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The original of the portrait of Marie Antoinette, used as frontispiece, 
once hung in the Royal Palace. The family tradition, doubtless true, is 
that it was presented to John Keating, on the occasion of one of his 
visits to France by the Due de Berri, a nephew of Louis XVI. It is now 
in possession of J. Percy Keating of Philadelphia, by whose courtesy it 
is here reproduced. 



The Story 



OF 



Some French Refugees 



AND THEIR 



"AZILUM" 

1793—1800 



SECOND EDITION 



BY 



Louise Welles Murray 

Past Historian Tioga Point Chapter; 

Member National Committee for Preservation of Historical Spots and 

Records, N. S. D. A. R.; 

Athens, Penna. 



"Ye Shapes and Shadows of the Past 
Rise from your graves, 
Revisit your familiar haunts again, 
Let us behold your faces, 
Let us hear the -.vords you uttered." 



1917 



7^7 



Copyright 1903— Copyright 1917 
By Tioga Point Chapter, N. S., D. A. R. 



AUG 251917 



Star-Gazette Press 
Elmira, N. Y. 



©CI,A47S204 




3tt Uptttflriam 



CONTENTS 



Pages 
CHAPTER I. Original Narrative Amplified 1-61 

Causes of the French Revolution, Coming of the Exiles to Anaerica, 
Their proposed Asylum for the Royal Family, Founding of the Asylum 
Company, Founding of the Colony by prominent Frenchmen, Recall of 
Exiles. 



CHAPTER II. Business Methods and Activities at Asylum 63-79 

The Various old account books in existence, Boulogne's and Hoops' 
Methods, Letters, receipts and other documents with various reproduc- 
tions. Death of Boulogne and inventory of his belongings. 



CHAPTER III. Asylum's Famous Visitors 80-86 

Rochefoucauld, Ternant, Talleyrand, The Three French Princes. 



CHAPTER IV. Contemporary and Later Accounts of the Colony. 87-93 

Accounts by Wilson, Weld, Bulow, Greydon, Twining, Wansey, de 
Noailles, Pontgibaud, Stevens, Harper. 



CHAPTER V. Biographies of Founders and Permanent Settlers 

at Asylum 94-135 

Genealogies of Keating, d'Autremont, Homet, Laporte, Lefevre and 
Prevost families. 



APPENDIX 137-154 

Articles of Agreement of the various Asylum Associations with sev- 
eral reproductions from original documents, and lists of shareholders. 
Account of final sales of stocks and lands. Hollenback's Claim. Old 
tax lists. Lists of French Accoun's in possession of Author. Bibliog- 
raphy and Other Sources of Information. 



Preface 



Original Preface 



The fact that the story of Asylum has been neglecited by general 
American historians should be sufflcienit reason for having it published 
in an- enduring form. Of late years not ai few imperfect and inaccurate 
accounts have appeared in various .magazines and newspapers, and it 
has seemed that the time has come to gather and publish every bit of 
the perishing story. 

The mother of the writer, Elizabeth Daporte, lived with her grand- 
father, Bartholomew Laporte, for eleven years before his death, and 
with his wife eighteen years. Not long before her death she requested 
the writer to take notes from her recolleiOtions for the benefnt of her 
children. iShe also had drawn, from her description, an interior plan of 
the great house in wihich she was born, and gave a full description of 
exterior surroundings. She requested the writer to record the story of 
Asylum; and, in loving memory of her fondness for all connected with 
it, it has been done. The truth of sevelral of her statements has only 
recently been admitted by those interested in Asylum. But they are 
here recorded as she had them from Bartholomew Laporte. By careful 
research for eight years these recollections have been added to, and the 
writer has' become possessed of various records, bits of memoirs, &c., 
not hitherto published; of special value being those of John Keating, 
which reveal various facts not previously known by the students of the 
history of Asylum. By far the most helpful pap'ers in establishing dates 
and correcting complicating statements are some receipted accounts 
signed by some of the 'most prominent men in the colony. These papers 
were found in a collection made by the late Eidward Herrick, and were 
presented to the writer by his son, Jackman Herrick. 

Diligent inquiry elicits the fact that the French descendants of the 
prominent founders 'of Asylum seem never to have heard of it, and we 
must infer that it was but an episode in the chequered life of an active 
Frenchman in those stormy Revolutionary days. 

In addition to personal research the writer has had the benefit of the 
work of Rev. David Craft, the first historian of Asylum. Thanks are 
also due to the descendants of Daporte, Homet, Defevre and d'Autre- 
niont, especially Mr. Charles d'Autremont, for maps, letters, portraits 
and genealogical data; to Mr. J. Percy Keating for memoirs and por- 
traits; to Mr. Julius Brown and sister, Mrs. Charlotte Pierce, for draw- 
ings and descriptions of the great house in which they lived; to Mr. J. 
A. Biles, surveyor, for valuable information; to Mr. Edward Welles for 
copies of Hollenback letters and helpful assistance; to Mr. Frank R. 
Welles for research in Paris libraries; to Mr. John W. Jordan of the 
Historical Society of Pennsylvania; and to B. S. Russell for reminis- 
cences of conversations with Judge Laporte. 

In research and arrangement the writer has received some assistance 
from her daughters. 



vi Preface 

The original plot of Asylum is now in the possession of Bradfora 
County Historical Society, who kindly permitted copy to be made. 

A copy of this plot, excluding- pen-pictures, inscriptions, &c., was 
made for Judge Laporte about 6 years ago. This was presented to the 
Tioga Point Historical Society by the late Mrs. Bartholomew Laporte in 
1896. 

'Some of the Articles of Agreement are in print and in possession of 
various historical societies. Others are supposed to exist only in the 
Craft collection of MiSS., in Tiog-a Point Hist. Soc, the originals having 
been destroyed by tire while in the possession of M. Meylert of Laporte, 
who was the last purchaser of lands of the Asylum Company. 

While it would be cominendable as history, no effort has been made 
in this work to gather the stoi^y of the non-French settlers at Asylum, 
either before or after the existence of "Prenchtown," as Asylum was 
familiarly loalled by American settlers in the region. This is intended 
to be the story of tlie French and has been impartially and conscien- 
tiously compiled, corrected and authenticated. The writer is well aware 
that some statements disagree with all previously published, but hopes 
for only kindly criticism. L. W. M. 

February 28, 190 3. 



Introduction to Second Edition. 

No sooner had 'Azilum" been published than the author becaine 
aware that all sources of information had not been exhausted. Work 
was at once beg'un to collect further data, both in France and America. 

It has become increasingly evident that the/ various efforts of the 
French to establish colonies in the United States have not received from 
our greater American historians the attention they deserve. True 
Parkman and some others have dwelt upon the very early and the 
recent history of the French in this country, but little hee'd has been 
given to the colonies of Revolutionary times and thereabouts. The 
admirable volume of J. G. 'Rosengiarten, entitled "French Colonists and 
Exiles in the United 'States" gives a thoroug-h and most excellent general 
survey, yet still leaves much for the so-called local historian. 

In the fourteen years since first publication, much has been g^leaned 
of more or less value, and the erection of a boulder marking the Asylum 
plot has made the time seena auspicious to issue a second edition. The 
effort has been to learn more about the notable founders of "Azylum" 
or "Azilum" (as they wrote it) than about the few who remained. The 
same effort has been made concerning the numerous visitors to the set- 
tlement. Very careful research both in Philadelphia and Harrisburg 
has revealed many papers whose existence was heretofore unsuspected. 
A French historian became interested, as also descendants of some of 
the founders of the colony. We record our special oblig-ations to Vis- 
comte de Noailles, France; Dr. John W. Jordan, Librarian of the His- 
torical Society of Pennsylvania; Hon. Thomas L. Montgomery, State 
Librarian; Mr. Joseph G. Roseng-arten, Philadelphia; William H. Per- 
kins, Miss Mary I. Stille, Mrs. F. W. Merriam, Mrs. G. L. Smith, and the 
following descendants of the first settlers at Asylum: Mrs. Theresa 



Preface vii 

Hornet Patterson, Mr. Charles d'Autremont, Jr., Gilbert S. .M^cClintock, 
Mr. J. Percy Keating, the Misses Storrs. 

June 1, 1917, as we g'o to press, the country has been stirred by the 
visit of the French Commission, and the time and place seem fit to say 
that, with all of America's applause and responsiveness, we are still 
quite sure that the people of the United States do not fully appreciate 
their deit to France. We appeal to them to study, not only in this 
little volume but at every possible source, the deeds of the French sol- 
diers and sailoi's during the Revolutionary War. And we urge every 
one to learn, to know and repeat in this crisis the words which George 
Washington wrote to the French General Rochambeau, one hundred 
and thirty -four years ago: "To the generous aid of your nation, and to 
the bravery of her troops, may be attributed in a very great degree, that 
independence for which we have fought, and, which after a severe con- 
flict of more thian seven years we have obtained." The cry of liberty, 
equality, sprang first from America, but fraternity especially belongs to 
both sides of the sea. May the deeds portrayed in this little book prove 
an incentive to patriotic Americans, not only to pay homage to the 
France of to-day, but to pay our debt to the Finance of a century ago. 

Louise Welles Murray. 



The Story of Some French Refugees and Their " Azilum" 

CHAPTER I. 

A rocent historian lias said : "No other state in the Union pre- 
sents a history so closely connected with world j)rogress as Penn- 
sylvania, which has been the laboratory in Vv'hich have been pei'- 
f ormed many important .experiments in sociology, religion and gov- 
ernment." 

In addition to these various constructive forces, there have been 
in many parts of the Keystone State episodes of so-called local his- 
tory of far reaching interest. Among them, there was no more ro- 
mantic or fascinating enterprise than the attempted city at 
Asylum, Bradford County ; which settlement, although of too 
short duration to leave any very strong influence on the com- 
munity, forms an interesting chapter in the history of the State. 
Because of the fortitude of the exiles under misfortune, and 
again because of their loyalty to their King and Queen, it is 
worth our while to preserve the story. 

Several years ago as I was Avandering about the rooms in Inde- 
pendence Hall, Philadelphia, I was attracted by a small paper 
bearing the name "Asylum." It read as follows: 

1 Share Asylum Co. 
Jno. Keating 
Garrett 'Cottringer 

Robt. Morris 
John Nicholson 
This is to certify that Charles de Cadignan of Philadelphia is entitled to 
one action or share in the entire property of the Asylum Co., being the 
equivalent of 200 acres of land, &c. &c. 

Robt. Morris President 
9 day of June 17 94. * 
James Duncan Secy. 

This bit of yellowed paper Avhicli hung for years on the Avindov/ 
frame near the old bell, received only a passing glance from the 
hundreds who yearly throng Independence Hall. Yet the page of 



*This certificate, although no longer hanging on the wall, is still in the nuisenm col- 
lection. Only a few copies are known to be in existence. It is one of the original lot 
issned to the first shareholders, having on the first two pages the articles of the first consti- 
tntion. Third page as shown on fly leaf. Fourth page, rates of interest and when Joay- 
able and an agreement to purchase the shares at the end of three years, (at the option of 
the holder) for $500. each. "Baron de Cadignan was Colonel of a St. DomingO' Regiment 
which came to this continent to take part in the siege of Yorktown. He was one of the 
largest shareholders. 



2 The Story of Some French Refugees 

unwritten history ^vhich it represents is worthj^ of attention even 
liere, in the birthplace of our liberty and constitution; for the 
history of this colony of French emigres is closely interwoven 
with the personal history of men of national interest — men whose 
names are inseparably connected with the old hall, and those 
early troubled years of the young Republic. 

Yet, not alone to the student of American history do the mem- 
ories awakened by this bit of paper appeal. The story of the 
colony and the brave men connected with it is as pure a bit of 
romance as the imagination can desire, hardly to be surpassed by 
1he traditions of their prototypes, those picturesque adventurers 
who fought for existence in the Canadian wilderness some two 
centuries before. 

The settlement of Asylum, whatever its prime motive, was the 
direct outcome of the French Revolution. Historians have not 
yet determined exactly when the French Revolution began, but 
we will date it from July 14, 1789. 

This Revolution was the explosion resulting from centuries of 
repression, mismanagement and tyranny. Its four chief causes 
were : 

*I. The long-continued and exhausting wars of France, which 
had piled up a debt of $1,300,000,000. 

II. The fact that the blood tax springing from this war debt, 
and from the wasteful habits of King and court, fell on the com- 
mon people, Avhile the wealthy, who owned the land, were almost 
exempt. 

III. For one hmidred and seventj^-five years the people had 
had no voice in the government because no meeting had been held 
of the Statels General, the national assembly. 

IV. The final cause was the decay of religious belief, and the 
growth of a vigorous literature proclaiming principles of inde- 
pendence, liberty and equality, principles powerfully enforced 
by the republican institutions of America as witnessed by those 
warm hearted Frenchmen whom a generous impulse had brought 
in their youth to the succor of our revolted colonies.** 

In the spring of 1789 Louis XVI, King of France, was forced 
by popular opinion to summon the States General. Old distinc- 
tions were done away, the King soon became alarmed at the demo- 
cratic utterances of the Assembly, and collected a body of troops 



*From friiizot's History. 

**We takp this opportunity to call attention to the fact that too little Is kno\^Ti of the 
aid and exploits of Frenchmen in the War of the Heyolution. Evei-y one should become 
familiar Ayith all the daring and brilliant deeds as nortrayed in the yolume by the present 
Vicomte de Noailles, entitled "ilarins et Soldats Francais en Ameriqne." 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



at Versailles. A rumor spread on July 14th that the commander 
of the Bastille, the old military fortress and prison in the heart of 
Paris, had received orders to turn his guns on the city. A fren- 
zied mob rushed toward the stronghold crying "Down with the 
Bastille." 

The defcinders of the building were captured and brutally 
murdered, their heads stuck on pikes being carried through the 
streets by the mob. The building was completely destroyed ; the 
news was carried to Versailles ; the King, roused from his sleep, 
said to the messenger, the Vicomte de Noailles : ' ^ Why, this is a 
revolt." "No, sire," was the reply, "it is a Revolution." "With 
the 14th day of July," said a wise and enlightened witness of the 
time, "the terror began." The distressed lower classes took the 
law into their own hands throughout France, the strongest mo- 
tive being material want. While the multitudes were actually 
suffering from hunger, news reached Paris that the King had 
given a banquet to some army officers at Versailles, and that they 
had trampled the people's colors under their feet. These tidings 
inflamed the rabble, and they set out on foot for the palace, and 
forced the King and his family to go with them to Paris, shout- 
ing, "We shall not die of hunger now for we have got the baker, 
and the baker's wife and the baker's little boy." This compul- 
sory journey was named by the mob the "Joyous Entry." 

Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette have been so often misunder- 
stood that, at the request of Theresa Homet Patterson, we here 
insert the inscriptions on their tombs which moved her pro- 
foundly on seeing them, as showing the worth and nobility of 
character of the Royal pair. 

LAST WILL OF LOUIS XVI. 
"I, Louis XVI. of that name, King of France, confined for four months 
with my family in the tower of the Temple at Paris, by those who were 
my subjects, and deprived, during- eleven days, of all communication 
with even my family, and moreover implicated in a trial, the issue of 
which lit is impossible to foresee, on account of the passions of men, 
having no one, save €rOd, as a witness of my thoughts, or to whom I 
can address myself, declare here, in his presence, my last wishes and 
sentiments. I bequeath my soul to God my Creator, and pray he ma.y 
receive it into his mercy. I die in the faith of the church, and obedi- 
ence to its decisions. I pray God to forgive 'me all my sins; I have 
striven to remember and detest them, and to humble myself before him. 
I beg all those whom I have involuntarily injured, (for I do not remem- 
ber ever having wilfully injured any one, ) to forgive me the evil they 
believe I have done them; I request all men, who have any charity, to 
unite their prayers to mine; I pardon, from the bottom of ^my heart, all 
those who have become my enemies without my ever giving them any 
motive; and I pray God to pardon them, as well as those who, from a 
false or mistaken zeal, have done me much harm. I recommend to 
God my wife and children, my sister, my aunts, brothers, and all those 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



attached to nie by the ties of blood, or any other nxanner. I pray God 
to look with compassion on my wife, children, and sister, who, for a long 
time, have suffered with me, and to support them if they lose me, and 
so long' as they remain in this world. I recommend my children to my 
wife, whose affection for them I have never doubted; I also pray her to 
teaich them to look upon the grandeurs of this world, if they should be 
condemned to suffer them, only as dangerous aiad temporai-y possessions, 
and to turn their thoughts to the only real and durable glory of eternity. 
I pray my sister to continue to show the same tenderness to my chil- 
dren, and to replace their mother should they have the misfortune to 
lose her. I pray my wife to forgive me all the miisfortune she suffjers 
on my account, and the sorrow I may have caused her in the course of 
my life, as she may be certain that I forgive her all, if she fancied she 
had any thing wherewith to reproach herself. 

1 recommend my children, after their duty to God, which is before all, 
to remain always united amongst themselves, to obey their mother, 
grateful for all the care she has taken of them; and in memory of my- 
self, 1 pray them to look upon my sister as a second mother. I recom- 
mend my son, if he has the misfortune to become king^ to remember 
that he owes himself to the happiness of his fellow citizens, to forget all 
hatred and resentment, and especially that which relates to the mis- 
fortunes and sorrows I now undergo. L.ef him remember that he can 
only make his subjects happy by reigning according to the laws, but 
that a king can only cause the laws to be respected, and do all the good 
he wishes, so long -as he possesses the necessary power, but that when 
the contrary occurs, being thwarted in his actions, and inspiring no re- 
spect, he is more injurious than useful. Let him remember that I have 
contracted a sacred debt towards the children of those who have per- 
ished or are unhappy on my account; I recommend to him :MM. Hue 
and Chamilly, whose strong attachment to me has induced them to 
shut themselves up in this miserable abode. Also Clery, of whom I am 
bound to speak in the hig'hest praise. As he remains with me to the 
last, I request the Commune to give him my clothes, booksi, purse, 
watch, and the other ornaments which have been taken from me, and 
deposited at the Council of the Commune. I forgive my guardians all 
che harsh treatment they have deemed it their duty to make me suffer; 
I have found among them some compassionate and charitable men: may 
chey enjoy that tranquility their thoughts must afford them! I beg MM. 
de Malesherbes, Tronchet, and Deseze to receive here my thanks, and 
the expression of my gratitude for all the trouble they havei taken in 
my behalf, and the kindness they have shown me. I conclude, by de- 
claring before God. and ready to appear in his presence, that I am in- 
nocent of all the crimes laid to my charge. 

Written, in duplicate, at the tower of the Temple, December 25th, 
1792. Louis." 

From October 6, 1789, the nobility began to leave France in 
ever-increasing numbers, although it was not until September, 
1792, that -wholesale executions were begun. Then men fled for 
safety, leaving their families, never dreaming that they, too, 
would be guillotined (even the children,) because of their rank. 
Then many found it convenient to provide a permanent refuge 
beyond the borders of France. 

As the Revolution progressed, and power passed from one party 
to another, the bands of fugitives grew larger, and not a few be- 
gan to look from Europe to the new world for a permanent refuge. 
Our United States was then hardly more than a mlderness; but 
even to men nurtured in one of the most highly civilized nations 



The Story op Some French Ree^ugees 



of Europe, the baby nation had its charm. For in spite of crude- 
ness and possible isolation, America was enjo^dng already the lib- 
erty for which France was vainly striving; liberty wdiich had 
become a steadily increasing passion in the hearts of those gallant 
young Fi'cnchmen who had accompanied Lafayette to take part in 
this country's cause. Pontgibaud, a French soldier, tells in his 
memoirs of an interview with Alexander Hamilton. Speaking of 
the French interference in the American war he said : ' ' The Cabi- 
net of Versailles would seem to have committed a political fault in 
having openly supported America in a war for Independence, and 
more particularly for having sent over the young nobility of the 
court, who returned imbued with republican principles which 
overflowed in the form of the French Revolution and then inun- 
dated Europe." Hamilton replied laughing: "Yon are right — - 
it is to the French arms that we owe our independence, but France 
would perhaps have done better if it had sent us your lower or- 
ders instead of your upper." It was said by a writer of the day, 
"Was not this spirit that had sprung to such sudden might in 
France the very spirit that had made America free, her people 
sovereign, her government as liberal as man could dream of? 
And was not France now more than ever America's friend and 
close ally against the world ! 'Twould be niggardly to grudge her 
aid and love to the full in this day of her emulation of America's 
great example. ' ' Supposedly the same writer said later : ' ' 'Twas 
plain to be seen as the months went by that the work being done 
in France bore no real likeness at all to the revolution in 
America. ' ' 

Turquan, a French historian of very recent date, thus writes : 

"Frightened at the progress of the Revolution many French emigrated 
to America. It had been surprising that the royalists had not thought 
to go to seek on the free ground of America liberty, such as was craved 
by the men of the Revolution in France, for they had not had time to 
forget in the thirst for novelty which turned all heads upside down, 
that Paris the city of infatuations had been seized with a veritable love 
for the young republic of the U. S. 

They loved to fancy that there [in America] reigned a sort of Golden 
Age, that the return to nature such as Rousseau had preached was there 
an accoimplished fact. They remembered the siniiple easy Franklin, the 
homage and respect which were heaped upon him in his tiny house at 
Passy. They still talked of his great shoes, his hair without powder, his 
chestnut colored coat, and talked with even more enthusiasm of his 
perfect good sense, full of smiling shrewdness. Meanwhile they kept 
from adopting his fashions and following his teaching. The majority 
confined themiselves to repeating with a knowing p^Hr the famous verse 
of Turgot in his honor: 'Eripuit caelo fulmen sceptrumque tyrannus,' 
and they stopped at that. 

From the first thunder stroke, several families were -wise enough to 
go to America to avoid the storm. As the Teirror increased le girondin 
Lasource in the infatuation of insecurity, having asked in the midst of 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



a group of deputies "Where can one be assured of safety?" Brissot, an- 
other g-irondin, answered, "It is scarcely possible except in Pennsyl- 
vania." And convinced of this truth, many left for America. Terrible 
indeed were the circumstances that led the French to decide to leave 
their own hearthstones and endure the risks of a long and perilous voy- 
age to establish themselves in a country so new that the greater part ot 
it was known only by fantastic accounts. But they sta.rted just the 
same, for they knew that the Hurons and the Iroquois could never be 
more barbarous than the pacifists and humanitarians of the Assembly. 
The celebrated Mme. Roland wrote from prison that she hoped others 
would leave the inhospitable land which fairly devoured people, adding'. 
"O my friends, may a favorable heaven land you in the United States." 
Mme. de Stael herself after her return frona England had thought to go 
to "Amerique" to create for herself a new existence and to find there 
the liberty that one no longer had in France. In this new country 
those forced to flee could live better than in the cities of old Europe 
where they 'might easily die of hunger or be exposed to great privations. 
In America with very Little, material life was assured, while in Europe 
it was not. Therefore large numbers left for the New World although 
they had to surmount niany diflficulties and dangers before reaching its 
shores. It is difficult to imagine the sentiments of these exiles after a 
voyage more or less perilous, when they beheld at last the shores of 
America. While some remained solemn and pensive, others manifested 
their joy noisily; they had escaped all the dangers — they felt they were 
saved. The future was only a matter of work and patience, privations 
without doubt and resignation, but they were full of courage and ready 
for every effort. Who knows? With a little luck why could not one 
come to a fortune? As the shores drew nearer little by little, a lively 
curiosity seized those uprooted people, waifs froni the oldest monarchy 
in Europe who had come to be stranded in the midst of a young re- 
public. Royalists themselves, they were astonished to be constrained by 
events to seek an asylum in the bosom of democracy, which illogically 
and in the height of contradiction they had helped with their arms and 
their blood to separate from the English Monarchy and to erect into a 
republic. 

The links Avhich French sympathy and American gratitude 
had forged between the two countries, facilitated flight across the 
Atlantic. Even if the official friendship of the two countries was 
soon to suffer a shock in the neutrality act, the individual ties 
were as strong as ever. Lafayette showed his affection and ad- 
miration of the United States by sending the key of the Bastille 
to Washington, the highest honor which he felt capable of paying 
him. And, while the United States did not feel bound to maintain 
friendly relations with the government that exiled and imprisoned 
Lafayette, to the men whom it exiled she opened her arms. La- 
fayette and his countrymen had left friends among the highest 
circles, official and commercial, of America. Robert Morris,* the 
famous financier of the Revolution; his colleague, Gouverneur 
Morris; Jefferson, ardent defender of the rights of man; Wash- 
ington, the visible head of the Republic ; all these stood ready to 
render material aid to those finding the excesses of the Jacobins 



*Recently found letters show that Robert Morris and de Noailles carried on an intimate 
■friendly correspondence in the period between the American and the French Revolution, 
also that it was through de Noailles in 1781 that Morris made arrangements for the pay- 
ment of certain bills drawn for the support of the French army under Rochambeau. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



unendurable. There is reason to believe that Gouverneur Morris, 
Minister to France, lavish of his wealth, and keenly sympathetic, 
facilitated the passage of more than one of these exiles to America, 
as later he did that of Louis Philippe and his brothers. 

Philadelphia, the capital and center of the commercial and 
political activities of the young Republic, naturally attracted 
the refugees who were warmly received in the circle of friends of 
Robert Morris, the principal financiers of America: Willing, 
president of the first bank of the United States; Bingham, whose 
consulship in the French Indies had established him friend of the 
French; and Girard, the French merchant and philanthropist, 
whose advice and assistance were free to all ; these men, high in 
official circles as well as chief representatives of American enter- 
prise and commerce, were the prom^oters and supporters of colonies 
of French refugees which were soon scattered here and there 
throughout the country. The founders of the colony in Luzerne 
County (now Bradford) were Antoine Omer Talon and Vicomte 
Louis Marie de Noailles, both men who had been prominent and 
active in France. 

"November 20, 1792," says Carlyle in his French Revolution, 
' ' Smith Gamain comes to Robespierre the leader of the people ; 
hints that he knows a thing or two, that in May last when traitor- 
ous correspondence was so brisk, he and the Royal Apprentice (for 
poor Louis had a turn for blacksmith work), fabricated an iron 
chest, cunningly inserting the same in the wall of the Royal 
chamber in the palace, invisible." 

The panel in the wall was at once searched for, wrenched out, 
and here are letters enough all treasonable to the people ; Talley- 
rand, Mirabeau, Talon, and many others. It is of Talon only that 
we wish to speak.* Antoine Omer Talon was born in Paris Janu- 
ary 20, 1760. Talon was 
not of noble birth, but of 
one of the most illustrious 
families of the French 
Magistracy. He became 
King's Advocate in 1777, 
when only seventeen years 
old. At the beginning of the Revolution he was Civil Lieut, of the 
Chatelet, (one of the famous prisons of Paris), also Chief Justice 
of the Criminal Court of France. He was early drawn into the con- 
flict mth the Jacobin party, and his position gave him ample op- 




*See biographical notes at back of book. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



portunity for making enemies. Famous men openly showed their 
enmity, but undaunted, he worked with all the means in his power 
for the cause of royalty. Such was the King's love for him that 
there is today a diamond studded box, on the cover of Which is a 
portrait of Louis XVI. inscribed: "Given by the King to M. 
Talon, Sejit. 7, 1791." He was also a member of the National As- 




Talon 



[Froni a miniature presented by himself to John Keating.] 

sembly, and was distinguished for his unalterable defense of the 
royal prerogative claimed by Louis XVI. Compromised by the 
flight of the King, he was arrested and imprisoned for a month. 
Later he was one of the most faithful advisers of the King, and 
with other royalists met frequently at night in the Tuileries, 
When his letters were found in the iron chest, he was marked at 
once for the guillotine. He escaped, however, and fled to the 



The Story of Some French Refugees 9 

sea coast; Havre-de-Grace or Marseilles, where he lay in hiding 
for several weeks. At this time he became acquainted with a 
young Frenchman, Bartholomew Laporte by name, who had been 
a prosperous wine merchant at Cadiz, Spain. A decree of the 
Spanish Government, banishing all French subjects and confiscat- 
ing their property, had left Laporte penniless and anxious to 
make his way to America, as Talon proposed to do. At last, hav- 
ing an opportunity to embark in an English merchantman at 
Marseilles, Laporte concealed Talon in a wine cask, carried him 
on board and stowed the cask in the hold of the vessel, covering 
it with charcoal. Suspecting that Talon would embark, soldiers 
searched the vessel, but in vain. On reaching England, Talon 
engaged passage to America for himself and Laporte, who was 
ever afterward his confidential agent and trusted land steward. 
Talon arrived in Philadelphia early in 1793. He had wealth, and 
it is said he purchased a large house at once which he threw open 
to all his exiled countrymen. We have not been able to locate this 
house. Soon after his arrival he took the oath of allegiance, the 
following record being still in existence, found among papers of 
John Keating: 

"I, Matthew Irwin, Esqr., Master of Rolls for the State of Pennsylvania, 
do testify that Omer Talon, Gentleman from Paris, appeared before me 
and voluntarily took and subscribed the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity 
as directed by Act of General Assembly." 

An appended document by one Peter Lohra set forth that "Omer 
Talon having taken such oath, is deemed accepted and taken as a citizen 
of the State of Pennsylvania as well as of the United States of America," 
dated July 11, 1793. 

A third document also appeared, signed by Governor Thomas Mifflin, 
testifies that said Peter Lohra was a notary public in Philadelphia. 

Talon went at once to Vicomte de Noailles, whom he had known 
in France. 

J arrived in Philadelphia early 

J(OXM^ ctt^ OiooSMlA^ "1 t^^e summer of 1792- He 

C^f was not a stranger, for 
thoug'h eleven years h a d 
elapsed since his last visit, there were few who did not recall with 
pleasure the brilliant young brother-in-law and fellow officer of 
Lafayette. De Noailles had fought in the cause of American in- 
dependence with such enthusiasm and distinction that Washington 
not only complimented his bravery several times in general orders, 
but gave to him the honor at Yorktown of receiving with an 
American officer the surrender of Cornwallis, and of establishing 
the terms of capitulation. This distinguished son of distinguished 
ancestry, soldiers, marshals and peers of France under three 



The Story op Some French Refugees 



Louis de Noailles 

reigiis, well deserved the honor bestowed upon him by Washing- 
ton at Yorktown. His father was Marechal de Mouchy, a court 
favorite. His mother was first lady of honor to Marie Antoi- 
nette- He and Lafayette married sisters. He wais; born in 1756, 
and entered upon a military career at an early age, and soon dis- 
tinguished himself by the improvements which he introduced into 
military tactics in every regiment in which he served. He or- 
ganized the regiment of which he became Colonel, and was con- 
sidered one of the best Colonels of his time, although only twenty 
years old when he planned to go to America with Lafayette. He 
returned to France full of the liberal ideas and projects of our young 
Republic. He distinguished himself in the National Assembly of 
1789 by claiming the equal adjustment of taxation, and M^as the 
author of the decree which gave the death blow to the old feudal 
system. He was made Field Marshal in November, 1791, and 
commanded under Lafayette. In 1792, discouraged by defeat in 
battle, and seeing treason and desertion on every hand in the 
army and general mismanagement in the government, he became 
desperate, resigned his position, went to England and thence to 
America. It is often said that he fell under the ban of Robes- 
pierre or the Jacobins (one of the numerous Revolutionary clubs 



The Story op Some French Refugees 11 

organized to gain the ear of the people). But all French biog- 
raphies relate it as above.* 

He was obliged to escape hastily, leaving behind him his help- 
less family ; not only his wife and children, but his old father, the 
Marechal de Mouchy, and his mother, chief maid of honor to the 
queen. All perished by the guillotine except a son and a daugh- 
ter. On reaching Philadelphia, where his old friends proved 
friends indeed, he was at once welcomed to partnership with 
Bingham, where Talon found him. 

Talon had plenty of means, and with the assistance of de 
Noailles he was enabled to throw open a house as an asylum for 
his helpless and destitute countrymen, in which there was soon 
gathered a motley crowd. There were members of the National 
Assembly, anxiously awaiting their families' arrival from Paris; 
titled officers of the army who had escaped barely with their 
lives; abbes who had seen their churches burned over their heads, 
and refugees who had fled penniless with their families from the 
French colony of San Domingo, where in 1791 slaves, stirred by 
the news of the revolution in France, had revolted against their 
masters and produced one of the most terrible insurrections ever 
known.** 

The casual acquaintance of Talon and de Noailles soon ripened 
into the warmest friendship; for Talon, practical, experienced 
and level-headed, was just the man de Noailles needed for his 
purpose. The two men were soon as deep in plans as they had 
ever been in Paris. What were these plans? Strange things, ru- 
mor whispers, but probably no one will ever know for certain; 
they were SAvallowed up like many other affairs in the turmoil of 
the times. To the world de Noailles gave out that they were 
planning a colony for the destitute exiles who had flocked to 
Philadelphia. But if that were their only object why did they 
select the remotest and most inaccessible spot in the wilds of Penn- 
sylvania for their Asylum? Unswerving in their loyalty it was 
really with the thought of preparing a refuge for the royal fam- 
ily as well as their own loved ones that de Noailles and Talon re- 
newed their friendship and united their forces and efforts to es- 
tablish an asylum in the wilderness for destitute emigres a^s well 
as for the ill fated King and Queen. 



*For fiirther account of de Noailles see biographical notes at back of book. 

**In 1793 six hundred French refugees from St. Bomingo arrived in Philadelphia during 
the outbreak of yellow fever. They were penniless and were provided for by the French 
Patriotic Society and a popular subscription. Others came who had both means and. 
slaves. Descendants of the slaves are to be found in Bradford County to-day. These 
refugees were all "clever and very energetic." 



12 The Story of Some French Refugees 



Before Talon's arrival, de Noailles had already considered the 
purchase of a large tract of land from Robert Morris and John 
Nicholson, large proprietors in the wild lands of Pennsylvania, 
peculiarly remote and inaccessible. Major Adam Hoops, a Revo- 
lutionary soldier, was to accompany Charles Bue Boulogne* (a 
French attorney who had been traveling between France and 
America for the last two years, arranging purchases of land be- 
tween American land holders and various Frenchmen, and of 
great use as an interpreter), on a tour of investigation to the re- 
gion then known as Northumberland County. Adam Hoops, as 
Major in Sullivan's army, had made the journey fourteen years 
before, and was chosen as a guide because Robert Morris placed 
in him the utmost confidence. These gentlemen carried the fol- 
lowing circular letter from Robert Morris: 

Philadelphia, August 8th 17 9 3. 
Sir: 

Should Mr. Boulog-ne find it necessary to purchase provisions or other 
articles in your Neighborhood for the use of himself or his Company. I 
beg you will assist him therein; or should you supply him yourself and 
take his drafts on this Place, you may rely that they will be paid: and 
I will hold myself accountable. Any services it may be in your Power to 
render this Gentleman or his Companions I shall be thankful for. and 
remain. 

Sir, Your obedt St. 
To Mr. Dunn at 'Newtown, Robt. Morris. 

Messrs. James Tower Jr. & Co., at 

Northumberland, or to any other person to whom Mr. Boulogne, Mr. 
Adam Hoops and the Gentlemen in their Company may apply; also xo 
Matthias Hollenback Esq., Wilkesbarre. 

(Endorsement on the back of the Copy): 
I do hereby Certify that the within Letter is a true Copy of the Original, 
which is in my Hands, as witness my Hand, this 2 7th day of August 
A. D. 1793. 

Ch'es Bue Boulogne. 

These gentlemen struck across the country from Philadelphia 
to Northumberland, and thence, following the tortuous course of 
the Susquehanna with its rifts and swift currents, they reached 
Wilkes-Barre, one of the few important settlements, August 27, 
1793. Here they made the acquaintance of Matthias Hollenback, 
proprietor of several trading posts along the river, to whom they 
delivered a copy of the letter of Robert Morris, which is still in 
the possession of Hollenback heirs. 

Passing up the lovely Susquehanna, then the only highway, the 
explorers i^ached a certain land-locked valley on the north branch 
of the river called by Indians Missiscum or jNIeadows', (now a part 



*There are many varied aocoimts of Boulogne. While he doubtless had great ability, 
he was unquestionably very unscrupulous, and we believe that his unenviable reputation 
in c-onnection with tlie founding of Galllpolis, jnay have given rise to Pontigiband's sus- 
picions, of which later. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



13 



of Bradford County), included in the Susquehanna Company's* 
township of Standing Stone. 

Long before Etienne Brule, the scout of Champlain, had traced 
out the windings of the Susquehanna; the Indian, whose chosen 
waterway it was, had marvelled at a great slab of rock projecting 
some twenty feet from the surface of the river bed. According 
to Jesse Lukens, a surveyor of 1774, this was called by the Indians 
" Ossenepachte, " which being translated is "Standing Stone," by 




*For full account of Susquehanna Company and Connecticut Claim, see "Old Tioga 
Point and Early Athens" by Louise Welles Murray. This township was granted to Dayid 
Smith and associates in 1774 and lost "when the settlement of Wyoming was burnt by 
the Indians in July, 1778." 



14 The Story of Some French Refugees 



which name it has always been known. It seems to have been a 
landmark from time immemorial. 

This stone is 44 ft. high from top to the bed of the river, 16 ft. 
wide, 4 ft. thick. The lower edge must reach far into the earth 
to resist, as it has for at least one hundred and fifty years, the 
irresistible power of freshets. It stands near the right bank of 
the river, visible from Lehigh Valley R. R. between Rummerfield 
and Homet's Ferry. Just south of this great stone, in one of the 
many curves of the river, lies a semicircle of fertile land, with the 
elevation of an old river terrace, shut in on the landward side by 
the steep heavily- wooded hills which follow the course of the 
valley. 

On this promising tract of meadowland, the agents of the 
French found eight lots of three hundred acres each, occupied by 
Connecticut settlers. According to deed records of Luzerne Co., 
these eight lots, one of which was a large island, were owned by 
Robert Cooley's heirs, Charles Townley (two), Robert Alexander, 
Robert Alpxander, Jr., Adelphi Ross, Ebenezer Skinner and 
Justus Gaylord.* They were not however the earliest settlers, as 
the plain was called ''Schufeldt Flats" after a Palatine emigrant 
Peter Schufeldt, who had come from the Mohawk region with 
Rudolph Fox (first settler at Towanda) about 1770, and later 
moved to the West Branch. 

Some of Sullivan's soldiers also had thought the land good, as 
John, son of Simon Spalding, and Henry Birney had settled here. 
Mr. Craft says Spalding and Birney came before Revolutionary 
war, doubtless proprietors under original grant of 1774. 

"The locality seemed to Boulogne and Hoops very desirable if 
both titles could be secured, as it was part of the tract claimed by 
both Connecticut and Pennsylvania." Hoops soon returned to 
Wilkes-Barre to assist in securing title, but Boulogne remained, 
purchasing early in October a farm on the eastern side of the 
river on his own account as per following argeement (Herrick 
collection Tioga Point Museum) : 



*Note. — According to deed records of Luzerne Co. the following is learned about the 
transfer of the 8 lots above mentioned: 

1. if. Hollenback Adm. to Directors Asylum Co. — 300 acres in Asylum — January 8, 
1796. 

2 & 3. Chas. Townley to Louis de Noailles Nos. 19 & 20, May 28. 1794. 

4. Robert Alexander to Louis de Noailles No. 21, January 11, 1794. 

5. Robert Alexander Jr. to l/ouis de Noailles an island known a.s Standing Stone 
Island, January 11, 1794. 

6. M. Hollenback to Louis de Noailles lot purchased of Adelphi Ross October 9, 1792. 

7. Forsyth lot sold at Sheriff sale to Roswell Welles, who to Benajah Stone who to 
Ebenezer Skinner, June 30, 1793. 

8. Lot of Justus (lay lor, Sr. These records were found and copied at Wilkes-Barre by- 
Edward AVelles twenty years ago, Deed Books 2, 3, 4, and 7. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



15 












:^ 



"This is to certify that it is agreed by these presents between Mr. John 
Spalding- of Sheshequin, Luzerne County of the one part and Mr. Charles 
Felix Bue Boulogne of Azylum Company aforesaid of the other part, that 
the said Mr. John Spalding will deliver to the said Mr. Boulogne a good 
■warranted Deed from and against all persons claiming under title 
of Connecticut or Pennsylvania a tract of land containing three hundred 
and twenty acres of land situated at Standing Stone flats being his actual 
property, the said Deed to be delivered within three months from this 
date to the said Mr. Boulogne who on the said delivery shall pay for and 
in consideration of the said bargain to the said Mr. John Spalding the 
sum of Seven hundred Dollars in the following manner, viz: 



16 The Story of Some French Refugees 



50 Dollars in money or a note of hand pble in 9ber next, 
150 D" in his note of hand pble in January 179'5 — 
200 D" in his note of hand pble in July 179 5 & 
300 D" also in his note of hand pble in January 179 6, 
the said parties binding themselves reciprocally into a penalty of two 
hundred Dollars to be paid by the failing parties in order to pay all 
damages, in witness whereof we have both set our hand and seals to the 
present agreement, done at Azylum this 24th day of July 1794. 
The possession to be given in November next. 

(Seal.) John Spalding, 

(iggai) Ch'es Bue Boulogne. 

Sealed and delivered in presence of us 

Fromentin. D'Autremont." 

Matthias Hollenback was engaged to secure Connecticut title, 
Robert Morris undertaking to secure the Pennsylvania.* Of 
Morris' methods we are ignorant, but from various records and 
papers, it is to be inferred that Judge Hollenback had to use not 
only great tact, but considerable of his own funds. The prices of 
the lots are said to have varied from $133 to $800. (Just here it 
may be of interest to note that in a mention of Asylum in a re- 
cently published book in France, the author says the land only 
cost the company fifteen cents an acre.) 

In connection with the efforts to secure title the following letter 
is given entire, and has been called ''the charter of Asylum." 

(Robert (Morris to Matthias Hollenback.) 

"Delaware Works, 30 miles from Phila- 
delphia, 9 October 17 93 — 

Sir: 

I received your letter of the 14 Septr & also one from Mr. Talon, and 
forwarded them both to him for his information and consideration. The 
one addressed to him he has returned with his observations; but that 
which was directed to me he has neglected to send back: so that if I 
omit to answer any points contained in it, you must excuse me, as I 
cannot do it from mere memory. 

Messrs De Noailles & Talon desire to make the purchase of the Eight 
Lotts or Tracts that compose the Tract of Land called the Standing 
Stone, & also the Island or Islands which they mentioned to you; but 
they will have all or none; this they insist on as an absolute condition, 
as you will see by a copy of their observations on nine articles extracted 
from the contents of your letter to Mr. Talon. They do not object to the 
prices or terms of payment stated in your letter; but you will perceive 
by their decision to have all or none, that it will be necessary to make 
conditional contracts with each of the parties, fixing the terms, & bind- 
ing them to grant conveyances of their right upon the performance of 
the conditions by you on your part; but reserving to yourself for a rea- 
sonable time to make the bargain valid or to annul it. If you can get 
the whole of them under such covenants, under hand and seals, you can 
then make the whole valid, & proceed to .perform the conditions, & 
take the conveyances in the name of Mr. Talon; but should any of the 
parties refuse to sell, or rise in their demands, so that you cannot com- 
ply with them, you can in such case hold the rest in suspense until Mr. 
Hoops or you send an express to inform me of all particulars; which 
will give my ■Friends an opportunity to consider & determine finally. 

*Tlie names of those holding Pennsylvania Patents of 1775 as discovered by J. A. 
Biles, are Archibald Stewart, \Vm. Nicholson, David Llnsay, Kobert Stevens and John 
Bown'e. (Baoom, Bommer or Boehm, four spellings having been used.) 



The Story of Some French Refugees 17 

Mr. Adam Hoops will deliver this letter. He possesses my confldence, 
and will be g^lad to render the 'best assistance or service in his power, 
upon occasion. He must, however, act under you; for in any other 
character the Connecticut men would consider him a new purchaser, & 
rise in their demands. He will go with you, if you choose, or do any- 
thing you may desire, to accomplish the object in view. You & he will 
therefore consult together, as to the best mode of proceeding; and I 
must observe, that altho Mr. Talon has agreed to the prices & terms de- 
manded by the Connecticut claimants, yet I cannot help thinking them 
very dear; & more so, as we have been obliged to purchase the Pennsyl- 
vania Title, which Mr. Hoops will inform you of. 

I hold it then as incumbent on you to obtain the Connecticut rights 
upon the cheapest terms that is possible; and you may with great pro- 
priety let them know, if you think it toesit to do so, that unless they will 
be content with reasonable terms, that we will bring ejectments against 
theim; or rather that you will do it, & try the strength of Title; in which 
case they will get nothing.* 

Whatever you do must be done soon. Winter is approaching, and 
these 'Gentlemen are extremely anxious to commence the operations 
necessary to the settlement they intend to make; but they will not strike 
a sitroke until the whole of the Lotts are secured for them; & unless the 
whole are obtained, they will give up the settlement, and will go to 
some other part of America. 

I engage to make good the agreements and contracts you may enter 
into consistently with your letter of the 14th iSeptr. last to Mr. Talon, & 
with his observations thereon; a copy of which Mr. Hoops will give to 
you if desired; and to enable you to make the payments according to 
those stipulations, which you may enter into in that respect, I shall also 
pay the order for a Thousand Dollars already given you on their 
account. 

The settlement which these gentlemen meditate at the Standing Stone 
is of great importance to you; and not only to you, hut to all that part 
of the Country; therefore you ought for your own interest, & the interest 
of your country, to exert every nerve to promote it. They will be of 
great service to you; and you should render them disinterestedly every 
service possible. Should they fail of establishing themselves at the 
Standing Stone, there is another part of Pennsylvania which I should 
prefer for them; and if they go there, I will do every thing for them 
that I possibly can. — I am, Sir, 

Your obedt. h'ble. Servt., 
Matthias Hollenback Esqr., Robt. Morris. 

Wilkes Barre. 

Boulogne and Hoops making a satisfactory report, eventually 
both titles were obtained, though indeed Boulogne began opera- 
tions at once, as is indicated in a letter written two months after 
his first arrival on the ground. And it was not long before he had 
associates. October 30, he wrote to Hollenback: "M. Dupeti- 
thouar and all his hands arrived here yesterday, also M. Perrault. 
M. Talon expects to be here the 6th or the 8th of next month." 



*The author having been given the privilege in 1910 of examining all papers of 
Matthias Hollenback, it was found that he either paid cash or gave his notes iSi obtaining 
these titles, and the greater part was never reftinded as promised by either Robert Morris 
or the Asylum Company. Not only so, but suits were brought against him by several of 
the parties, and he finally brought suit himself against Robert Morris, after repeated ap- 
peals to the officers of the Company. For further information see "Hollenback's Claim" 
in Appendix. 



18 The Story of Some French Refugees 

standing Stone, Sber 19th, 1793. 
Mr. Mathias Hollenback, 
Wilkes-Barre 
Sir: 

I received by Mr. Town the favor of yours dated 
11th instant, and your boat also arrived ihere few days after; all that 
was enumerated in your bill hath been delivered, and you are therefore 
credited on my account of L48.10.2, this Currency; when you'll send me 
the price of the ox-cart, cows and bull. I shall do the same. 

The cows are exceeding poor, and hardly give any milk; but I hope 
they will come to, and therefore we will see one another on that account; 
but I cannot help observing to you that your blacksmith hath not 
treated us well; the chains and tools are hardly worth any things; the 
iron is so baid or so tender that it bend like butter; I wish you mention 
it to him for the future. 

The difficulty of having the buildings and great many articles of pro- 
visions in proper time hath determined us and the gentlemen in Phila- 
delphia to lessen them, and as Mr. Keating hath told you, the expense 
will of course be lessened; therefore I have not sent you the draft for 
3000 Dollars which we spoke of when I was in Wilkesbarre, and one* of 
the gentlemen who will deliver you this letter is going to Philadelphia; 
if you are not gone will be very glad of your company; will as well as 
you see Messrs. Talon & De Noailles in that city and send or bring their 
answer on things relating to the expences. 

I will be obliged to you to deliver the other gentleman w'ho is coming 
back here Directly as much money as you possibly can, or the 1250 Dol- 
lars w^hich remain in your hands for my draft on Robert Morris Esqre 
and you'll take his receipt and charge it to my account. 

You may also make me debtor for the sum of L13.17.6, which Mr. 
Joshua Whitney hath given me for your account, and of which you'll 
dispose according to the note herein enclosed, having credited you here 
of the same. 

Esqre Hancock hath not yet concluded his Bargain with Gaylord & 
Skinner, you know it is of the greatest importance to have it concluded 
as well as the one of Ross, otherwise it will stop me here all at once, 
the gentlemen in Philadelphia being determined to have the whole or 
none at all, or to reject the whole purchase from Mr. Morris. 

In your letter you speak to me of having ^bought from Ross the house 
and part of the Land, but you don't tell me the quantity of Land; I 
hope you have concluded the whole, and beg on you to say some thing 
to me on that account in your Letter and explain it well, because ac- 
cording to your answer I shall either go on with the buildings or stop 
them Directly. 

I remain with esteem. Yours, 

Ch'es Bue Boulogne. 
(Postscript) 

Sir: 

In buying from Mr. Ross you must absolutely buy the 
crop which is in the ground. Everybody here is very sorry you have 
not done it so for the other purchase, because it keeps us one year en- 
tirely without enjoying our property. 

I have received the cloth that was over Mr. Talon's boat, but you 
have forgot to send me by your boat the frying pan, salt, axes, &c., that 
Mr. Ross hath return to you; be kind enough to send by the first oppor- 
tunity the sack of things belonging to Michael — which by mistake I sent 
or left at your house." 

The purchase as concluded was of 2400 acres, the northwest 
corner being the aforementioned "Standing Stone." The title 
deed reading: 



*(i'Autremont who had come from the Chenango to confer with Boulogne. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 19 

"Beginning at a remarkable rock on the western side of the Susque- 
hanna river knoiwn as the Standing Stone," , 

and the conveyances being legally executed early in 1794. The 
whole was so accurately surveyed that ever since surveyors have 
come there from long distances to get their bearings. Soon after 
Morris and Nicholson as directors of the Asylum Company cut 
through a bridle path from the Lackawanna over the mountains to 
Wyalusing. 

The name of Asylum (as the French wrote and pronounced it 
Azylum or '^ Azilum,") was given to the plot. The original map 
is still in existence, in possession of Bradford County Historical 
Society, Towanda, Pa. (Copy of original at back of volume.) 
Judge Laporte said the original surveyor was a Frenchman whose 
name was De Graff. Having been folded always it became so 
worn, that about 1840 Judge Laporte had an accurate copy of plot 
executed, now in Tioga Point Museum at Athens, Pa. 

The town plot covered three hundred acres ; it was laid out in 
the form of a parallelogram as carefully and daintily as a toy 
village. Its greatest length was north and south, with a large 
market scjuare in the center containing two acres on which has 
been placed a boulder and tablet, commemorating the settlement. 
Five streets ran due north and south, crossed by nine running 
east and west, the middle one much wider than the others (one 
hundred ft.), making four hundred and thirteen lots in the town 
plot of about one-half acre each. Along the river bank were small 
houses for the slaves.* Toward the hills next to the plot were 
seventeen larger lots numbered and others not numbered. These 
were uncleared, varying in size. One hundred thousand acres of 
wild land were also "purchased by subscription on the Loyal Sock 
Creek, two thousand five hundred of which was divided into towji 
shares of four hundred acres each. When any part of this wild 
land was cleared by a subscriber he received nine dollars per acre 
out of the common funds. The streets were sixty-six feet broad, 
and were a marvel to the country round, as later were the roads 
built to reach the more distant clearings; for the Yankee settler 
of that era was accustomed to satisfy himself with the natural 



*One might judge from the following appeal that the slaves soon learned they were 
where they could be their own masters. This is addressed' to M. HoUenback: 

"Azilum 1 April '96 Sir, I hope you will not take it ill if I a<ldress myself to youi 
and claim your assistance. A negro man about twenty years of age stoutly built ran 
away from my house night before last, he can hardly speak a word of English, he took 
away a new axe, a couple of new shirts, several prs of linen and cloth trousers, 2 blan- 
kets, and had on a hat with a blue ribbon — he says that he is fre« though he is bound far 
no less than fourteen years. I would take it as a great favor, sir, if you would be so 
kind as to have him advertised. I shall give 5 dollars reward and pay all [reasonable 
charges. If in return I could be of any service to you sir please to dispose of your 
very obedient humble servant 

LAKOUE 



20 The Story of Some French Refugees 



highway, tlie river, or with the narrow rough trail cut by Sulli- 
van's army in 1779; and the hundreds of dollars spent by the 
French in building roads was to the Yankee incomprehensible. 

Equally incomprehensible was the natural French taste for 
landscape gardening and love of trees, where they did not obscure 
the view. The French abhorred the Yankee mode of clearing. 
"You Avould think," wrote one of them, "that the American had 
an inborn aversion to trees." And where the forest trees had all 
been cut down, the French planted Lombardy poplars, weeping 
willows and various fruit trees to redeem the barren appearance 
of the town. 

An Asylum Company was organized April 25, 1794 with Robert 
Morris as President and Omer Talon and Adam Hoops agents. 
Mr. Craft says: "Fabulous sums of money were anticipated as 
the result of this speculation." The capital stock was to consist 
of a million acres or 5000 shares of 200 acres each. In April, 
1795, new articles of association Avere formed with some prudent 
changes. But the practical abandonment of the colony, and the 
fact that the money which was to have been paid in France to 
Morris' son from Talon's estate was not forthcoming, proved this 
company also unsuccessful. In 1801 only 2000 shares had been 
taken, and the company was again reorganized. This last com- 
pany secured the title to large tracts of land in Sullivan, Lycom- 
ing and Luzerne counties and sold to actual settlers. See note.* 

September 1, 1808, at a meeting of the Board, the trusteeship 
was conveyed to Archibald McCall, John Ashley, and Thomas 
Astley in trust for the use of the Asylum Company. The trust 
deed conveying lands, tenements, &c., forming the common stock 
of funds of the said Asylum Company was executed Nov. 3, 1808. 
As the country was settled, many of the company's lands were sold- 
The residue, ten to twenty thousand acres was sold to Hon. Wm. 
Jessup of Montrose, March 4, 1843 ; he subsequently conveyed the 



*In the collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a Minute Book of the 
Asylum Co. Though its title is "Minutes of the Association of 1795," the meetings re- 
corded extend only from April 7, 1802 to December 1804. With these minutes is a list of 
receipts for certificates of stock with holders' signatures, like the one at beginning of 
book. 

The entries in Minute Book refer chiefly to an exchange of old certiftcates for new- 
ones. There is also a subscription list with autograph signatures. This list contaitis 
many names hitherto unknown in connection with Asylum. 

Tliere is also in this collection (Philadelpliia) a Catalogue of the Lands and Stock of 
the Asylum Co. offered for sale at the Merchants' Coffee house in pursuance of the 311st 
Article' of Association of the said company, dated 1819. This catalogue gives no date for 
sale, or terms; simply lists of tracts and their location; also, imsatisfied warrants, and 
shares in Easton & Wilkes-Barre Turnpike, and in Susquehanna & Tioga Turnpike. A 
projected road from Berwick to Newtown, now Elmira, which was to run through Asylum 
lands, therefore considerable stock was taken by trustees of Company. Some of their 
certificates are in possession of the writer. 

Diligent inquiry at the City Hall, PhiladelphSia, proves that none of the Articles of 
Association were ever recorded there. The Hist. Soc. of Penna. does not assume to know, 
but doubts that any articles were ever recorded. For all these Articles of Association see 
Appendix. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 21 

same to Michael Meylert of Laporte, the title to some of which is 
held by the trustees of his estate today. See Appendix. 

The following description is from a deed of Trustees of Asylum 
Company to John Keating dated 1812 : 

"Whereas the association of the Asylum Company was established the 
twenty second day of April one thousand seven hundred and ninety four, 
and improved the twenly fifth day of April one thousand seven hundred 
and ninety five 'by articles of agreement by and beitween Robert Morris 
Esquire and others his associates of the one part, and John Nicholson, 
and his associates of the other part; and on the said twenty fifth of 
April One thousand seven hundred and ninety five the interest of the 
associates aforesaid and also of the said Robert Morris, had been pur- 
chased 'by and were vested in the aforesaid John Nicholson, and his 
capital stock of the said company was by the said John 'Nilcholson con- 
veyed to Jared Ing-ersol and Mathew Clarkson as Trustees, to hold the 
same as a jointenancy dn trust to convey the same agreeably to the ar- 
ticles made and executed the twenty second of April, one thousand seven 
hundred and ninety four. AND WHEREAS on the twenty sixth of Oc- 
tober One thousand eight hundred and one, certain further articles of 
agreement and association were made and executed between the mem- 
bers of the said Asylum Company, whereon and whereby among other 
things, it was provided, that the legal title to the lands of the associa- 
tion should be vested in two or more trustees who should hold the same 
in jointenancy in trust to convey the same to purchasers and others 
agreeably to these articles; AND whereas the said Archibald MoCall, 
John Ashley and Thomas Astley having expended large sums of money 
in protecting the interest of the said company, under Judgments, Liens 
and otherwise, and incurred heavy expenses, and made disbursements 
for the same; and having by sundry purchases and conveyances, at dif- 
ferent times to (them made by the imarshal lof the United States of the 
District of Pennsylvania, the Commissioners of the Counties of Lycom- 
ing Luzerne and the Commissioners appointed under the Act of Assembly 
for recovering the debt due from the estate of John Nicholson to the 
commonwealth, and also by a conveyance executed to them as trustees 
on the twenty third of November, one thousand eight hundred and eight 
by Jared Ingersol, Esquire who survived Mathew Clarkson, in pursuance 
of a resolution of the board on the first of Septem'ber in the same year, 
became and now are seized and po'ssessed of all lands and other estate 
and property which heretofore belonged to, or was conveyed or intended 
to be conveyed to the said company; AND whereas by the nineteenth 
section of the further Articles of association, made and executed on the 
twenty sixth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and one, it is 
provided that the trustees for the time being shall upon receiving a re- 
quest in writing signed by the board of managers and attested by the 
Secretary, convey such real estarte or property vested in them as may 
be mentioned in such request and in manner as therein directed." 

Among the refugees from San Domingo there was one who was 
particularly recommended to de Noailles and Talon, doubtless by 
General Rochambeau. Of noble Irish ancestry, but French by 
adoption, enthusiastic, yet cool headed, able and tactful, John 
Keating wjis just the man to be associated with them in their en- 
terprise. His admirable business qualities, command of English 
and skill as an interpreter proved invaluable both at the settle- 
ment, and in Wilkes-Barre and Philadelphia, and he seems to 
have been continually traveling back and forth, though his 



22 



The Story of Some French Refugees 




4 



^/f^ /^^ 




This portrait was painted in Paris in 1801 on the occasion of John 
Keating's visit to Europe in connection with the Ceres Land Company. 

memoirs show that he had residence at Asylum; and according to 
tax lists, he at one time owned six houses there. He and Talon 
became very intimate, they were just of an age. 

To Boulogne was entrusted the supervision of workmen in 
clearing land and erecting houses, though later on Montulle had 
entire charge of clearing. Building was a most difficult business, 
with all supplies, even lumber, having to be ordered from Wilkes- 
Barre and pushed up the river in Durham boats, four or five days 
being required for an ordinary trip. (See Chapter II. on "Busi- 
ness Methods.") Ea7:'ly in the life of the colony financial troubles 
began, which may have been magnified by the irritable, querulous 



. The Story of Some French Refugees 23 

disposition of Boulogne, who had charge of ordering supplies and 
money to pay workmen, and who seems to have had some misun- 
derstandings with Matthias Hollenback at Wilkes-Barre. Mr. 
HoUenback had trading posts along the river, and Morris and de 
Noailles had arranged with him to furnish ready money and sup- 
plies as needed. But complaints were frequent, perhaps because 
Boulogne's demands for money were unprecedented in the wilder- 
ness where farm produce was generally used as specie. October 
30, 1793, M. Boulogne wrote to Matthias Hollenback: 

"M. Dupetithouar with all his hands arrived here yesterday, and also 
M. Perrault. The laiSt brought me a letter from M. Talon who tells me 
he expects to be here the 6th or the 8th of next month." 

In November de Noailles paid a short visit to Asylum to give 
directions to Boulogne and to arrange business matters with Mr. 
Hollenback and others. This was his first and only visit to the 
colony for which he hoped so much. During the rest of its exist- 
ence he watched over the interests in Philadelphia, leaving Talon 
to be the visible head and guiding genius. During his stay it is 
supposed the plan of the town was decided on and the name of 
Asylum chosen. 

The following letter has been found since publication of first 
edition, written at Wilkes-Barre ; November 8, 1793 ; note the 
quaint English. 

"To iM. Hollenback, 
Dear 'Sir: 

I received the letter you favourized me with on friday. I 
was unhappy enough to miss you at Wilkesbarre where I arrived few 
hours after your departure. I shall proceed to Standing Stone and be 
back on next Saturday inorning the 16th to Wilkesbarre, I will spend 
the evening in the tow^n, and go to Philadelphia early Sunday morning. 
I hope I shall meet you at Wilkesbarre — I wish you will do the greatest 
diligence that I may have a conversation with you on our business, be- 
lieve me dear sir your most obedient and humble servant 

Vis. Noailles." 

That he remained only a week is shown by date of a letter which 
he carried on his return trip. 

(Boulogne to Hollenback, Nov. 15, 1793, by the hand of Viscount de 
Noailles.) 

Standing Stone, 9ber ye 15th 1793 

Sir: 

I do not know if Mr Alexander hath delivered you a Letter which 
I wrote to you day before yesterday, 2 hours before the arrival of the 
Vicomte de Noailles: in case you had not received that letter before the 
arrival of this one I wish you would be kind enough to send me as quick 
as possible 4 bushels of slack'd lime and some Lead sheet for four 
roofs windows. I want them absolutely to complete the buildings here. 
If you could also send me few Barrils of salted fish on reasonable terms 
you would oblige me, and if you cannot, in your answer pray let me 
know what is their coninion weight and price. 



24 The Story of Some French Refugees - 

In the conversation I had here with Mr De 'Noailles rendering- my ac- 
count, he seemed to me to think I had received from you more than one 
thiousand Diollars, and particularly as if it was the 66 Dollars & 2-3 
which you deducted from the 4 00 Dollars you first gave me. I suppose 
it is a mistake in understanding- because you may easily recollect the 
circumstances and if I do myself my account in your Ledger is settled 
right. I wish you would examine it with the Vicomte de Noailles and 
Mr. Keating and write nie about it because I am very certain the deduc- 
tion hath been made. 

I shall want immediajtely for the payment of the -workmen Labourers 
and mechanics I have here about two thousand two hundred Dollars, viz. 
about 1200 by the return of Mr. d'Autremont who will be at Wilkesbarre 
as soon as the Viscount de Noailles and the other thousand dollars if I 
don't draw upon you for the amount in favour of some of the workmen 
"Who reside in your place in about a fortnight or three weeks from this 
date. 

In ease your business should call you from town, I hope and beg on. 
you that you'll leave a word to Mrs Hollenback or your clerk to give the 
sum I call for: we are to-o distant from one another to be or have always 
somebody on the road for a trifle, and I must own it I was really sur- 
prised when Mr d'Autremont whom I had sent for 1000 dollars came 
back with 20, and more so when on your return from Philadelphia you 
only sent me 200. 

It now come into my mind that when you, said or when Mr. de 
'Noailles understood that I had received over than 1000 dallars may be 
you included the amount of the goods which you have sent me; but on 
the other side I understand that we are to have terms for the paymeait 
of the supplies, and keep the ready cash for the payment of the work- 
men. 

Therefore I beg on you to clear the matter between Mr de Noailles 
and you, and have it in such a Light that I might know perfectly on 
what I can depend. 

I remain with Consideration, Sir, 
Yours, 
Ch'es Bu6 Boulogne. 

You may deduct on the aforesaid sum the 60 pounds to be paid to 
Messrs Kellog-g & Delano. C. B. 

The needs and trials of Boulogne and his associates are shown 
in the following letters to Mr. Hollenback: 

standing Stone, Xber 9th 179 3 
Sir: 

I received your two letters one of the 2d the other of the 5th instant, 
as also the 11 small tables and 21 window frames from Mess. Kellogg & 
Delano in your boat, who ihath arrived here this morning with the one 
of iMr. Myer, bring-ing part of the goods of Mr. Talon from Catawasay. 

Mr. Talon arrived here this morning as I was concluding the Bargain 
w^ith Mr. Ross for his Land here. You'll see by the pei-iasal of this 
agreement that he is to receive from us otherwise by you the sum of 
fifty three pounds at the time of the signing and acknowledging the 
deed; and in order to enable you to ma^e this payment I send you 
within this letter two Bank notes each of one hundred Dollars, viz: 100 
Dollars United States Bank Nol917 order Wm Wirt, dated Jany, 1792, 
signed Thos. "Willing Presidt & John Kean Cashier: the other of also 100 
Dollars same Bank No. 9 order of G-. Aston dated 2d Xber 1791, signed 
as above. 

As those 20 Dollars will be more and above what will be necessary 
for the payment to be made to Mr. Ross if he complyes with the oon- 



The Story of Some French Refugees 25 

ditions of the Bargain, which we hope you'll see fulfilled, I shall he 
oblig-ed to you to send me by the fli'st opportunity fifty Dollars in cash 
or in small bills of five Dollars. 

I am told by Mr. Keating' you intend to aome up here yourself; there- 
fore if you could at the saime time bring- with you cash or small bills 
for 1, 2, or 3 hundred Dollars, we should give you in return some bills 
of one hundred and you would oblige us. 

.Mr Talon desires you wiould send him as quick as possible the 6 oxen 
beef he hath engaged from you; he wishes also you would send the same 
some unguent for sore 'leg's, & some Peruvian bark &ca; and 3 or four 
franklin stoves with pipes; If they can be g-ot second hand so much the 
better. 

Tell the masons & joiners not to loose a moment in coming up; don't 
forget to send some Leather or some shoes. 

I shall write to you without fault by the Post of next Monday. 

Don't forget to have the titles of Mr Ross w^ell examined before you 
give anything, and see that he agrees with his brother's heirs. 

I'll be o-bliged to you to write to me by the first opportunity on ac- 
count of the 200 Dollars herein enclosed. 



Standing Stone, Xber 1st 17 93. 
Sir: 

This particularly is to beg on you to send as quick as possible the 
window frames, the lime and lead I have ask you; the remainder of the 
goods which Mr Dupetit Thouars hath left behind, and particularly the 
nails. If in the boat you could add 5 or 600 feet of good seasoned 
boards they are very much wanted here, and 50 or 60 pairs of shoes; 
our American people here are all without & they would soon be sold. 



Standing Stone, Xber 23d 1793. 
Sir: 

The mason Wm Dunmead hath arrived here thursday last 19th instant, 
Holstead (Halstead?) and the two others masons have also arrived here 
Saturday 21st instant and are going back this day because the weather 
does not permit them to work. By the same reason which hinders me 
from giving 7 dollars to Hatwatter I heg of you to settle with the ma- 
sons & charge it to our account. 

I remain. Sir, Yours, 

Ch'es Bue Boulogne. 

As shown in the letters, winter came on before any houses were 
completed. The arrival of many of the settlers was postponed, 
and those on the ground made the best of the log huts of the 
Yankee settlers, heating those without chimneys with the Frank- 
lin stoves sent from Wilkes-Barre. That must have been a long 
and dreary winter; supplies were delayed and at one time the 
prospect of a famine must have been serious. But with the 
coming of spring everything was pushed with greatest rapidity. 
From the many letters calling for building supplies, one would 
think there were as many mails a day as now with railroad facili- 
ties. 



26 The Story op Some French Refugees 

(Boulogne to HoUenback, Feb. 27, 1794.) 

February 27th 3 794. 
Mathias HoUenback Esqre 
Sir: 

This is to give you advice of my draught for Mr. Talon accompt, 
upon you this day at 10 days sight order of Joel Greener for fifty 
Dollars to which draught I beg on you to do a good reception: you'll 
oblige, Sir, 

Yours, 

Ch'es Bu§ Boulogne. 

(Boulogne to HoUenback, April 30, 1794.) 

Azylum, April 30th 1794. 

Sir: 

I Received by Benj. Slocum's boat the boxes Casks &ca mentioned in 
your last. This one will be favoured to you by Mr Dandlau, one of our 
gentlemen who is kind enough to go to your place to see what can be 
the reason why Blanchard does not come back with the plough, har- 
row-teeth chains, &ca. I have heard here he was taken sick. I am 
sorry of it, but as we want those things immediately on account 
of sowing, planting &ca, you'll oblige me very much to have those arti- 
cles delivered to him and send them immediately in the canoe Blanch- 
ard had from us; and as we want also 300 lbs. German steel, 600 lbs. 
iron for cart wheels, % inches thick & 2 inches wide, if it can be had, 
otherwise send it as you generally make use of for your wheels; 4 or 

5 Bundles of strong nails rods for making nails about 5 inches long, 
half a gross of H-L inges (hinges) 11 inches, for hanging doors, a gross 
of H-L 6 inches Inges for hanging windows, a couple of doz. of Latches 

6 Ketches; those Inges, Latches & Ketches of the best quality you 
have and the neatest; a small baril of 20 penny nails, 1 baril of 10' 
penny dto, 1 dto of 8 penny, 1 small ditto of 6 & 4 penny, and the 
same quantity of brads. I shall be obliged to you to deliver to him also 
those articles immediately, and find him some men to come up the 
river with the canoe Blanchard went down with, and the one that was 
left in your care last fall by the Viscount de Noailles. I suppose those 
2 canoes will be sufficient to bring the whole, as also 18 spades & 6 
shovels, 6 grubbing howes. 

I have already wrote to you on account of some fat cattle to be sent 
here. I beg on you also to send with them two good yoke of working 
oxen, and 6 yoke and bow for them and others. 

Pray loose no time in sending a wagon to Mr Heller to have the 
remainder of the goods that are there, for we are in the greatest 
want; and if possible keep your boat ready to have them as well as 
other wagons that I am informed are coming, as quick as possible; 
and be kind enough to see if they are in good order. 

I don't expect I shall make use of the money which Mr Keating & Mr 
Talon writes me to take from you, amounting to 300 Dollars, other ways 
than for the payment of the draft already given upon you, and a bill 
I have given Mr Town, which amount to 133 Dollars, and which he 
hath remitted to Mr Butler; or for the payment of small matters which 
the Bearer may want in his journey. 

I remain with esteem. Yours, 

Ch'es Boulogne. 

Please to send some body with the bearer at (to) Blanchard's house 
in order to know exactly what are the things that were to be delivered 
to him. Send me also one doz. small cast iron pots, 1 gridiron 6 
kettle and 2 good Bushels, stamped. The men that are to come with 
the canoes will find themselves in provisions & liquors. 

(Outside address.) 

Maths HoUenback Esqre Wilkesbarre: in his absence to his Lady or 
their clerk. Favoured by Mr Dandlau. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 27 

Soon the emigres began to arrive from Philadelphia, some by 
the way of Catawissa and others doubtless by the way of Beth- 
lehem and Wilkes-Barre, where they found Matthias Hollenback 
ever ready to assist them in any way, though he must have been 
tried by their demands and complaints. Yet they were brave 
indeed to face the toilsome and tedious journey before them, 
braver no doubt by reason of the enthusiasm and hopeful antici- 
pations of Talon and Keating who seemed to have travelled back 
and forth all winter. 

Who can imagine the thoughts of those aristocrats on arriving 
at this piiraitive settlement in the heart of a wilderness, lonely 
and inaccessible ! Accustomed to the luxuries of Parisian life, 
or the tropical luxuriance of the West Indies, fancy the change 
to rude log houses surrounded by an almost unbroken forest, 
and CA^ery supply of the most ordinary kind to be had only in 
Wilkes-Barre, seventy-five miles away. But here at least they 
were safe from Robespierre and the guillotine! So the real life 
began at Asylum. The thirty dwelling houses, often very small, 
were not at all palatial, nor indeed such as a Parisian had ever 
dreamed of; in fact, simply log houses, hewn logs to be sure, and 
Sometimes shingled over, often lacking chimneys, the stones for 
which had to be picked up. To the Yankees they seemed palaces 
with their extravagances in chimneys, doors, staircases;, mndow 
glass, shutters and even piazzas and summer houses ; the latter a 
necessity for the French, accustomed to the beauties of Versailles 
and Petit Trianon. Some quaint little Ishops rose around the 
square, a school house, a small chapel, and, as soon as the neces- 
sary buildings were completed, a theatre. In the interior the 
houses had good floors, and as a rule were papered and very pre- 
sentable, in fact the French people throughout their stay spent 
more on so-called luxuries than on necessities. A few had furni- 
ture land other articles brought from France, jealously hoarded 
even until today. Some chairs from Talon's house, and a hand- 
some copper friar are now in the museum at Athens, also a copper 
candlestick brought over by Lefevre and a tureen brought by 
Charles Homet ; the handle of its cover is the fleur-de-lis of France, 
though we believe it is Austrian ware. 

Talon, the head of the colony, with his love of order, resolute 
will and generous hospitality, seemed equal to every emergency. 
How his heart must have swelled with pleasure as he saw the 
little community, to which he had given his whole thought and en- 
ergy for so many months, begin to take on a homelike and in- 
dustrious air. How he must have rejoiced that through his 



28 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



efforts so many poor fugitives would know again the pleasures 
of home and the society of fellow countrymen, though their 
dearest ones were separated from them for a time. Here there 
was a leveling of social barriers, and priest, canon and noble 
became shop and inn keepers and tillers of the soil, rich and poor 
all friends together. And with what joyful anticipations he 
must have looked forward to the coming of the Queen, for it is 
generally acknowledged that it was for the Royal fugitives that 
this asylum was planned. It seems, however, that the death of the 
King must have been known, or that he was never expected, for 
the houses built for royalty's use were always known as the 
"Queen's Houses." Besides the house, built by Talon in the town 
plot and afterward occupied by him, deep in the woods on the Loyal 
Sock road near West Terry or New Era, was 
begun a spacious house or two, and a chapel, a 
large bakery ; and other buildings were planned ; 
these were in charge of Charles Homet and 
were intended for a hiding place for the Queen, 
a fact contradicted onlj' by writers not well 
informed. "In the journal of Gouverneur 
Morris are veiled allusions and some outspoken 
admissions which point to a scheme cautiously 
concocted by a number of Frenchmen and 
Americans, whereby the King and Queen were 
to make their escape to America. That the 
■icheme never matured was due to the King's 
fatal habit of temporizing and the Queen's dis- 
trust of her friends. ' ' The plan was to have been 
carried out on July 14, 1792, a date coinciding with the arrival 
at Philadelp'hia of de Noailles, said to be the active originator 

of the American 
end of the project. 
Strange irony of 
fate, even before 
they were com- 
pleted, the unhap- 
py Queen had fol- 
lowed her husband 
to the jguillotine ! 
The suspension of 
intercourse be- 
tween France and 





The Story of Some French Refugees 29 

America and the arduous journey between the colony and Phil- 
adelphia, accounts for the long delay in the sad news reaching 
the colon V. 




The Queen en route to the guillotine 

[Letter written by Marie Antoinette just before her execution at 
which time she showed "indomitable courage and pious submis- 
sion-" Inserted by request of Theresa Hornet Patterfeon.] 

"This 15th Oct., at half past four in the morning. 
"1 write you, my sister, for the last time I have been condemned, 
not to an ignominious death, that only awaits criminals, but to go and 
rejoin your brother. Innocent as he, I hope to show the same firmness 
as he did in these last moments. I grieve bitterly at leaving mj^ poor 
children; you know that I existed but for them and you — you who 
have by your friendship sacrificed all to be with us. In what a position 
do I leave you! I have learned, by the pleadings on my trial, that my 
daughter was separated from you. Alas! — poor child — I dare not write 
to her; she would jiot receive my letter; I know not even if this may 
reach you. Receive my blessing for both. I hope one day, when they 
are older, they may rejoin you, and rejoice in liberty at your tender 
care. May they both think on what I have never ceased to inspire 
them with! May their friendship and mutual confidence form their 
happiness! May my daughter feel that at her age she ought always 
to aid her brother with that advice with which the greater experience 



30 The Story of Some French Refugees 

she possesses, and her friendship, should inspire her! May my son, on 
his part render to his sister every care and service vs^hich affection 
oan dictate! May they, in short, both feel, in whatever position they 
may find themselves, that they can never be truly happy but by their 
union! Let them take example by us. How much consolation has our 
friendship given us in our misfortunes! And, in happiness, to share it 
with a friend is doubly sweet. Where can one find any more tender 
or dearer than in one's own family? Let my son never forget- the 
last words of his father. I repeat to him expressly: — 'Let him never 
attempt to avenge our death!' 

"I must now speak to you of a matter most painful to my heart. 
I know how much trouble this child must have given you. Pardon 
him, my dear sister; think of his age, and how easy it is to make a 
child say what one wishes, and what he even does not comprehend. A 
day will arrive, I hope, when he will the better feel all the value of 
your kindness and affection for them both. It still remains to me to 
confide to you my last thoughts. I had desired to write them from the 
commencement of the trial; but, exclusively of their not permitting me 
to write, the proceedings have been so rapid that I should really not 
have had the time. 

"I die in the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion; in that of my 
fathers; in that in which I have been bred, and which I have always 
professed, having no spiritual consolation to expect, not knowing if 
priests of this religion still exist here — and even the place in which I 
am would expose them too much, were .they once to enter it. I sincerely 
ask pardon of God for all the errors I naay have committed during my 
life. I hope that, in His kindness. He will accept my last vows, as 
well as those I have long since inade, that He may vouchsafe to receive 
my soul in his mercy and goodness. I ask pardon of all those with 
whom I am acquainted, and of you, my sister, in particular, for all the 
trouble which, without desiring it, I may have caused you. I forgive 
all my enemies the evil they have done me. I say here adieu to my 
aunts, and to all my brothers and sisters. I had friends, and the idea 
of being separated forever from them and their sorrows, causes me 
the greatest regret I experience in dying. Let them, at least, know that 
m my last moments I have thought of them. Adieu, my good and kind 
sister! May this letter reach you! Think of me always! I embrace you 

with all my heart, as well as those poor and dear children My 

God, how heartrending it is to quit them for ever! Adieu! .... 
Adieu! .... I ought no longer to occupy myself, but with my spirit- 
ual duties. As I am not mistress of my actions, they may bring me 
perhaps a priest. But I here protest that I will not tell him one word, 
and that I will treat him absolutely as a stranger." 

"Marie." 

The house built by Talon was the most pretentious in the 
settlement, and is said to have been the largest log house ever 
built in America. Elizabeth Laporte said her grandfather alwaj'S 
called it ' ' the Queen 's House = ' ' but it is generally known as ' ' La 
Grande Maison, " or the great house, and is so called in all 
laborer's accounts. It was built of hewn logs with a plain sloping 
roof, shingled. There were no shingles on the sides. It was about 
eighty-four feet long and sixty feet wide, two stories high, with a 
spacious attic. There were four stacks of chimneys and eight 
fireplaces on each floor. The windows were all square, with no 
hooded or dormer effects, with small square panes of glatss. There 
were heavy, solid wooden shutters on the windows. On each floor 



The Story op Some French Refugees 



31 




32 



The Story of Some French Refugees 




Plan of Ground Floor 



was a hall tlie entire length, from eight to twelve feet wide, with 
outside door at each end, on ground floor the south door facing the 
road, with three rooms on the side facing the river and four on 
the other. The four rooms were of equal size. On the river side 
the middle room was twice the size of the others in length and 
extended into the hall with double doors set cross^^dse on each 
corner, opposite each of which was a broad flight of stairs to the 
second story, and here the large room and two flights of stairs 
were the same. In each end of this room were fireplaces, one 
much larger than the other. So large indeed that when it was 
used by the Laportes as a kitchen, oxen drew the back logs riglit 
into the room. The mantel was about as high as a man's head. In 
the center of the side was a double door with the upper half set 
with small panes of glass. Each side of this door were Frencli 
windows, very large, opening from the floor nearly to the ceilins'. 
Plain board ceiling was used instead of plaster for walls, most of 
the woodwork plain and unpainted, though the lower stairs had 
newell posts and rails of black walnut. This house was built on 
lot No. 418 just north of the house now standing, built by Judge 
Laporte in 1839, now owned by the Hagerman family. This des- 
cription is from the recollections of Elizabeth Laporte and of her 
cousins Julius and Charlotte Brown who occupied it for several 
years. Receipted workmen's accounts corroborate their statement 
tJiat there was a large barn on the premises, about three hundred 
by fifty feet, and an ell of sheds one hundred and fifty feet long. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



33 



showing the ample provision made for travelers. Some of the 
original oak trees stood near the house, many; fruit trees were 
planted, and the whole enclosed by a fence. The Browns told of an- 
other house described by Judge Laporte about a half mile from the 






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"old block house" the location called "the Prospect Rock" which 
may have been the picnic place. "The Queen's House" was torn 
down in 1846 for fear of fire. Traces of the foundation are still 
in evidence. In this great house was dispensed the hospitality of 
the settlement. As long as it stood, the large room wa!s; called 



34 The Story of Some French Refugees 

the French ladies' drawing room; here doubtless gathered all the 
famous visitors to the colony. Here perhaps were breathed oaths 
of loyalty to Louis Philippe, whom they hoped soon to see on the 
throne ! What brilliant conversation these walls echoed ! Alas, 
there have come down to us but two or three amusing little stories 
of the gatherings here. 

Though the winters were long and dreary the summer heat was 
far more fierce than ever known in "Belle Paris." The first time 
the writer ever heard of Asylum was when a little child she was 
riding by with Chas. F. Welles of Wyalusing. After pointing out 
the location and the picnic rock, he added this anecdote told to 
him by one of the old pioneers. Entering the drawing room (evi- 
dently unannounced) he found the great dames seated around 
the apartment, all complaining bitterly of the intense heat. Skirts 
were daintily lifted, while slave girls, seated on the floor, in- 
dustriously plied fans to cool their mistresses' ankles! 

At anotlier time a great dinner was in progress in this room. 
Talon's butler, ahvays too fond of the wine which he served, 
spilled some soup on a guest ; as he had been repeatedly repri- 
manded for similar offenses, his master's anger knew no bounds. 
Yet iserva?its were not plenty in Asylum, so Talon called for his 
faithful friend and land steward, Laporte, and said "Will you 
be my butler?" Laporte protested, but Talon refused to forgive 
the offender, and the feast went on with the wine merchant serving 
in Wallois' place. 

The only other house at all remembered was doubtless that or 
Boulogne, hastily built for accommodation of first comers. It wivs 
large, having twelve equal sized rooms on each floor, with a small 
fireplace in one corner of each, arranged for by three stacks of 
chimneys, one to each four rooms, three staircases, three closets, 
and on the lower floor twenty-two doors. This house, like that of 
Talon, was torn down. It was on present Kerrick property. 

There is in existence an accurate description of another house 
and surroundings in the settlement; by careless writers often con- 
founded with that of Talon. It was comparitively near. Exam- 
ination of the map shows that both of these houses and Talon's 
also, were ,iust outside the plot of small lots. Gui de Noailles was 
from St. Domingo ; we have not learned that he was related to 
General de Noailles. The de Siberts were also from St. Domingo 
where the.v had great wealth, and a large plantation. Dennis M. 
Cottineau and Luce his wife, originally had the house and lot No, 
417, mentioned in this agreement. Cottineau was one of the original 



The Story op Some French Refugees 35 

shareholders, and a famous character. He was Captain of the 
ship Pallas in the well known action between Bonhomme Richard 
and Serapis. His wife is only known by name. He advanced 
money to the Asylum Company. 

AGREEMENT BETWEEN BERCY de SIBERT AND GUI 
de NOAILLES 

Made December 23, 1797 — both of Asylum. 
Mrs. Sibert had purchased Nos. 416 & 417 of the Asylum Company 
and agrees with Gui de Noailles to convey the same — the property is 
described as containing the following improvements: On No. 416 stands 
a log house 30x18 covered with nailed shingles, the house is divided into 
2 lower rooms and 2 in the upper story, the lower ones are papered, on 
both sides of the house stand two small buildings of the same kind, one 
is used for a kitchen, the other being papered is commonly called the 
dining room, both these buildings have good fire places and a half story. 
Three rooms in the biggest house have fire places, the two side build- 
ings and the other are joined together by a piazza, there is a good cellar 
under the dining room, the yard is enclosed by a nailed pale fence and 
there is a good double gate, the garden has a like fence, a constant 
stream of water runs through it, over the spring a spring house has 
been erected, it is divided into two rooms one of which is floored, the 
garden is decorated by a considerable number of fruit trees, young Lom- 
bardy populars and weeping willows and by a lattice summer house, next 
to the garden is a nursery of about 900 apples trees, the lower part of 
the lot forms a piece of meadow of about 8 acres inclosed by a post 
and rail fence, on the same lot No. 416 stands a horse grist mill, the 
building is 40x34, part of the lower story is contrived into a stable for 
the mill horses and a cow stable — part of the upper story is used to keep 
fodder — the mill is double geared and in complete order, being furnished 
with a pair of good stones, a good bolting cloth and in one corner stands 
a fire place. Above the mill runs a never failing spring which waters a 
great part of the meadow. On No. 417 stands a good log house 20x18 
covered with nailed shingles which is used as a barn but might be in- 
habited as there are two good grooved floors and a winding staircase. 
The lower part is under the best fence well cleared, and part of it was 
put last fall in winter grain &C 

(Signed) 
Witnessed by 

Peter Regnier Bercy de Seibert 

Joseph Delaroue (or Delarony) 
Recorded at Wilkes-Barre, Vol. 5, p 260 of Deeds records 

Talon devoted much time and attention to the roads, and is said 
to have spent $3,000 on them in one year. His best work of this 
sort was the one leading to Laddsburg ''which ran from Benjamin 
Moody's corner, over by Strong's and Brown's spring lake, by Fitz- 
gerald's dishmill and the site of the Queen's hiding place in the 
woods on to Laddsburg" and is still known as the old French 
road. Doubtless more labor was expended on this because it 
led to the proposed hiding place for the Queen, and opened up the 
company's lands. 

A wharf was built for loading and unloading boats. The only 
document, all in the handwriting of Talon, is one concerning the 
wharf, by which he grants a right of ' ' 120 geometrical feet ' ' to 



36 The Story of Some French Refugees 

Becedelievre the merchant, mentioning also that certain other por- 
tions had already been assigned to Beaulieu and Marrisback and 
measured by Perrault ; the remainder being reserved for use of the 
Company. He also explains the difference between French and 
English measurements. A wharf was a necessity for unloading 
the large flat Durham boats on which freight was poled up the 
river from Cataw'issa or Wilkes-Barre- A ferry was established to 
the Sullivan trail, about the only road on the opposite side of the 
river. A horse-power mill was constructed, as the nearest grist 
mill at Wilkes-Barre. The nearest post office was at "Wilkes- 
Barre also; therefore the Asylum settlers established a weekly ex- 
press to Philadelphia by a messenger traveling on horseback; this 
was maintained for several years. 

From an article entitled ' ' First Roads Connecting the West and 
North Branches," we quote: 

"The refugees of the French Revolution sought and found an asylum 
on the North Branch, and wishing a more direct communication with 
the Muncy Valley, marked out and opened from the termination of the 
Wallis road, near the Forks of the Loyalsock, to their settlement, what 
was afterward known as the Frenchtown Pack-horse Road. It ran up 
Lick Creek for a few miles, then gradually climbing the ridge to the 
table-land through Forks and Albany township, and descending to the 
river about Skinner's Eddy. This completed the first through route for 
pedestrians or equestrians from the West to the North Branch, but was 
never opened for general travel." 

Talon and de Noailles, finding themselves, unable to provide 
funds, were released from/ their contract by Messrs. Morris and 
Nicholson ; and by the new arrangements became partners with 
them. Talon was then made agent of the company at a given sal- 
ary of $3,000, and the continued use of the house already occupied 
by him. This company being also unable to fulfill its engagements, 
Talon resigned as agent and sold out his share about 1797, having 
already revisited Europe in a vain attempt to recover his funds. 
Thus his residence at Asylum was less than four years. He never 
acquired the English language, and was imperious and hasty in 
dealing with workmen. It seems pitiful that one so ardent and 
interested, from ignorance of language, and want of practice in 
this kind of business, should have failed. Judge Stevens, writing 
to Charles Miner in 1824, said of Talon : 

"He practically gave soul, life and energy to the settlement — with him 
it rose and continued, and when he withdrew it fell. That is, its decline 
began and has continued to the present time. He brought large sums of 
money into the U. S. and was benevolent and liberal in the extreme. Not 
exactly knowing the worth of labor he was frequently imposed upon and 
paid in many instances for jobs five times more than work was worth, 
but after all he benefitted many of the citizens very much. It is said 
besides the money expended at Asylum he lost in London $10,000, and in 



The Story op Some French Refugees 37 

Brussels, where he had made a deposit, 46,000 guineas. When he heard 
of this he called together all his dependants and creditors and settled 
with them and told his confidants he must abandon the settlement. 
When he withdrew, they withered like vegetation without nourishment." 

This accords somewhat with a story told by Bartholemew La- 
porte to his grandchild, that the founders of the colony had left 
most of their funds in Europe, and that when they sent back for 
them, all had been confiscated, and so the settlement could not be 
carried on as first planned. It may be interesting to introduce 
here some brief extract'aj from journals of John Keating, never 
before published: 

"I sailed from Cape Francis at the end of November 179 2 on board 
a brig with M. de Blacons. We got up to Philadelphia the eve of 
Christmas which was then kept very strictly. We were received at 
the widow Papley's* the day after Christmas. We soon met with 
Messrs Talon, Vcte. de Noailles and other emigrants. I landed with 
less than $300 and knew no one. A plan was soon set on foot for the 
formation of a settlement on the North Branch of the Susquehanna, a 
spot for a town was chosen and the name of Asylum given. Mr. Robert 
Morris was to give the land, his son to be paid for it in Europe. Not- 
withstanding the eagerness with which the plan was adopted and the 
considerable sums expended the settlement gradually decreased — the 
great majority of the settlers was not calculated for it. Minute details 
of it are to be seen in the Duke de Liancourt's travels." 

(Translated from French.) 

"A short time after my arrival in America I made the acquaintance 
of M. Talon, a former civil lieutenant in Paris, whom the Revolution 
had made seek an Asylum in the new world; forseeing that he might 
there occupy himself in an agreeable manner, and at the same time 
useful to his interests. He bought lands, or at least made arrange- 
ments to do so, he associated me in his plans without ever having 
known me, but only on that which he had heard said of me. Without 
entering into details on this subject, suffice it to say that soon after a 
company was formed called Asylum after the name that had been 
given to a locality situated on the east branch of the Susquehanna in 
Pennsylvania. (I accompanied Talon thither, there we spent much 
time together;) the business required meanwhile frequent trips to Phil- 
adelphia where I made several good acquaintances. The affairs of the 
Asylum Co. not promising great profits, and the funds of Talon disap- 
pearing fast, he resolved to go over to Europe to dispose of some 
lands of which the sale had been entrusted to him, and also to straighten 
out his affairs. Having succeeded in Holland in effecting a purchase 
of the lands, he came back in July, 1796, with power to conclude it, and 
terminated this affair at the close of the year, and returned again to 
Europe in the month of February following, i. e. Feb 1797." 

Keating 's journal and other papers explain these land transac- 
tions more fully ; and as they are more or less connected with the 
Asylum venture, we consider them of sufficient interest for inser- 
tion here. Some time early in 1796 Talon and one Richard Gernon, 
a foreign banker in Philadelphia, representing a foreign syndi- 



*The widow Papley's l>oarding house was long a popular resort for exiles. It was in 
1793 at 179 S. Second St., and in 1800 at 58 Soutli Fifth, St., still a rendezvous for 
Keating and Asylum pe«ple. 



38 The Story of Some French Refugees 

cate at Amsterdam and Hamburg, purchased from William Bing- 
ham at one dollar per acre 300,000 acres in what was then Lycoming 
county, covering what are now known as Potter and McKean 
counties. A difference arose between them and the syndicate con- 
cerning their interest, and Talon, in whom the title was vested 
decided in January, 1797, to go to Europe again and attempt i 
further sale, agreeing to send the funds at once to the bankinf 
house of Gernon — and very careful arrangements were made fo; 
whatever the outcome. Talon gave John Keating full power o 
attorney during his absence. 

After considerable argument on the other side, all parties dr 
cided to leave the whole question to John Keating as arbitrato 
Talon, evidently discouraged, never returned to America, but mail, 
tained his friendship with Keating. The latter was called to co 
fer with the Amsterdam syndicate in 1801, and remained abro; 
one year considering the matter and rendering a satisfactory e 
cision in May, 1802, Talon was then living in Paris where Keatif 
visited him, and renewed old associations. These lands were dev- 
oped by John Keating, a fuller account of which may be found^ 
his biography. Talon remained in Europe, and soon became agf 
interested in political intrigue. In 1804 he was banished for be^ 
implicated in a plot against Napoleon, and was actually imprison 
for three years. This proving too great a mental strain he becL ,.o 
insane and died in 1811. (Further information in biographical 
notes.) 

A picture of life at Asylum is well draMm by the Duke de la 
Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, a French nobleman who lived some years 
in Philadelphia, traveled up the Susquehanna in 1795 en route to 
Niagara Falls and Canada and published a journal of his travels, 
which may be found in the library of the Pennsylvania Historical 
Society, and doubtless in some of our large public libraries, en- 
titled : ' ' Travels Through the United States of North America, the 
Country of the Iroquois and Upper Canada, in the Years 1795 and 
1797." He thus describes the settlement: 

"Asylum stands on the right bank of the Susquehanna, which must 
be crossed in order to reach this settlement. It has been only fif- 
teen months established. Messrs. Talon and deNoailles, who arrived here 
from England, richer in hopes than in cash, fancied they should be 
able to purchase, cultivate and people 200,000 acres of land. They in- 
terested in their project some planters of St. Domingo, who escaped" 
from the ruins of that colony, and who had prudence enough carefully 
to preserve the remains of their fortune. Messrs. Morris and Nicholson, 
who possess immense tracts of land in the United States, were willing 
and ready to meet their views. Lands were chosen on the northern 
banks of the Susquehanna; the price and installments were regulated, 
and the first trees felled (in December 1793) on the spot, which was 



The Story of Some French Refugees 39 

selected for the town. Mr. de Noailles took upon himself the naanage- 
ment of the concerns of the company in Philadelphia. Mr. Talon 
caused the first log houses to be erected here, and the land to be 
prepared for the reception of the new inhabitants. But they soon dis- 
covered that they should be disappointed of all the money, which 
they had hoped to receive. Messrs. Morris and Nicholson readily re- 
leased them from this first difficulty and the contract was rescinded. 
From exclusive proprietors of these lands, the above gentlemen became 
associates and partners in trade with Messrs. Morris and Nicholson, in 
all the profits arising from their sale, and the quantity was enlarged to 
a million of acres. Each of them kept about 6,000 acres as his private 
property, the price of which was somewhat raised; but more distant 
oeriods of payment were fixed. Mr. Talon was appointed agent for the 
company, with a salary of $3,000. The buildings, as well as all other 
expenses, were with the consent of Messrs. Morris and Nicholson, placed 
b the account of the company. The use of the most considerable house, 
)uilt by Mr. Talon, was assigned to himself as agent. Ignorance of the 
anguage of the country, want of practice in business of this kind, avoca- 
ions of a different nature and the embarrassments of the company 
ave deprived Mr. Talon of the most exquisite happiness an emigrant 
'renchman can enjoy, to open a peaceful and coinfortable asylum for 
is unfortunate countrymen, to assist them in the first moments of their 
3ttlement, and thus to become the founder of a colony, which wovild 
ave proved as honorable to the name of a Frenchman, as useful to 
le unfortunate sufferers whom it would have received. An enormous 
.pense, partly incurred without a mature consideration of the plan, 
■casioned deficiencies. ■ The company was not able to fullfill its engage- 
ents. The exertions of Mr. Talon and his associates were not equal 
the removal of these difficulties; and it becoming evident that the 
lony could not attain prosperity so quickly as Mr. Talon had expected, 
resigned his situation as agent to Mr. Nicholson and sold him his 
are in the property of the company, who, having six months before 
ught that of Mr. de Noailles also, is now become sole proprietor of 
le land." 
'This is a brief sketch of the history of Asylum. There cannot remain 
ci, doubt but that this establishment, the plan of which is certainly the 
work of much deliberation, would have proved more successful had it 
been formed by degrees and with a sufficient supply of ready naoney. 
For notwithstanding the errors committed in the execution of the plan 
and the adverse incidents it has met with, Asylum has already attained 
an uncommon degree of perfection, considering its infant state. Thirty 
houses built in this town are inhabited by families fronr St. Domingo and 
from France, by French artisans, and even by Americans. Some inns 
and two shops have been established, the business of which is consider- 
able. Several town shares have been put into very good condition; 
and the fields and gardens begin to be productive. A considerable 
quantity of ground has been cleared on the creek Loyalsock, where 
the company has allotted 25,000 acres of land, in part of a hundred 
thousand acres, which the inhabitants of Asylum have purchased by 
subscription. Similar agricultural operations, which take place in almost 
every town share, are intended to enliven at once all the different parts 
of this large tract of land. The town shares consist each of 400 acres 
from 10 to 2 of which are cleared. The owner can therefore either 
settle there himself at the end of the year, or entrust it to a farmer. The 
clearing of the town shares is, at present, effected by subscription on this 
principle: that for evei^y acre that belongs to a siibscriber who has 
cleared 10 acres, five of which only are enclosed with fences, $9 are 
paid. M. de Montulle, one of the inhabitants of Asylum, directs this 
clearing of the ground; the plan of which he conceived for the welfare 
of the colony. The sentiments of the colonists are good. Every one 
follows his business, the cultivator as well as the inn-keeper and trades- 
man, with as much zeal and exertion as if he had been brought up to 
it. The soil is tolerably good, the climate healthful. Almost all the 
ingredients of a thriving colony concur in Asylum, and afford room to 
hope that these great natural advantages will in time be improved for 



40 The Story of Some French Refugees 

the benefit and prosperity of the colonists. A new trading- company has 
superceded the former; at least, the firm and management of the com- 
pany's concerns have been altered. Mr. Robert Morris has entirely left 
it, and Mr. Nicholson being now the only proprietor, has formed a 
bank of his million of acres, divided into 5,000 shares containing each 
200 acres, the price of which at $2.50 per acre is $500. They bear six 
per cent interest, which increases in proportion to the state of the land; 
and at the expiration of 15 j^ears, the period of which the company is 
to be dissolved, all the benefits and advantages accruing to the bank, 
are to be divided among the holders of the shares. An office has been 
established' by the latter, for the direction and management of the con- 
cerns of the bank. 

This new company, taught by the errors of the former, will, no doubt, 
make it their principle business to promote the prosperity of Asylum, 
which alone, can, in any considerable manner, increase the value of the 
land. Yet some sacrifices will also be required for that purpose. It will 
be necessary to construct new roads and repair old ones Encourage- 
ment must also be given to the families, which already inhabit Asylum; 
and advantageous offers must be held out to such as may be disposed 
to settle here. If these things be done, Asylum will soon be peopled. 
Motives arising from French manners and opinions have hitherto pre- 
vented even French families from settling here. These are now in 
great measure removed, and if the company shall proceed with judg- 
ment and prudence, as it is to be hoped they will, there can hardly 
remain a doubt but that Asylum will speedily become a place of impor- 
tance. Its situation on the Susquehanna, 200 miles from its source, fits 
it in a peculiar manner for an emporium of the inland trade. French 
activity, supported with money, will certainly accelerate its growth; and 
this will doubtless in time convince the world that the enterprise and 
assiduity of Frenchmen are equally conspicuous in prosperity and ad- 
verse circumstances. 

The following families have either already settled, or intend to settle 
as Asylum, viz: 1. M. de Blacons, deputy for Dauphine, in the constitu 
ent assembly. Since his quitting France, he has married Mademoiselle 
de Maulde, late canoness to the chapter of Bonbourg. They keep a 
haberdasher's shop. Their partner is M. Colin, formerly Abbe de Sevigne, 
archduke of Tours, and conseiller au grand conseil. 2. M. de Montulle, 
late captain of a troop of horse, married to a lady of St. Domingo, who 
resides at present at Pottsgrove. 3. Madame de Sytaert, coiisin to M. de 
Montulle and relict of a rich planter of St. Dominga. 4.-M. Bec-de- 
Lievre, formerly a canon, now a shop-keeper; his partners are the two 
Messrs. de la Roue, one of whom was formerly a petit gens-d'armes and 
the other a captain of infantry. The latter has married a sister of 
Madame Sybert. 5. Mademoiselle de Bercy, who intends to establish 
an inn on the road from Asylum to Loyalsock, eight miles from the 
former place, whither she is on the point of removing with her husband. 
6. M. Beaulieu, formierly a captain of infantry in the French service, 
who served in America during the late war in the legion of Potosky. 
He has remained ever since in this country, has married an English 
lady and now keeps an inn. 7. M. Buzard, a planter of St. Domingo 
and physician in that colony, who has settled in Asylum with his wife, 
daughter and son, and some negroes, the remains of his fortune. 8. M. 
,de Noailles, a planter of St. Domingo. 9. M. Dandelot of Pranchecomte, 
late an officer of infantry, who left France on account of the Revolution 
and arrived here destitute of property, but was kindly received by Mr. 
Talon, and is now engaged in agricultural pursuits with spirit and suc- 
cess. 10. M. du Petit Thouar, an officer of the navy, who, encouraged 
by the constituent assembly and assisted by a subscription, embarked 
in an expedition in quest of M. de la Perouse. He was detained on the 
coast of Brazil by the governor of the colony, Fernando de Noriguez, 
and sent with his crew to Portugal, where he was very ill-treated by the 
Portuguest government, stripped of all his property, and only escaped 
farther persecution by fleeing to America, where he lives free and happy, 
without property, yet without want. He is employed in clearing about 



The Story of Some French Refugees 41 

200 or 300 acres of land, which have been presented to him. His sociable 
mild, yet truly original temper and character, are set off by a noble 
simplicity of manner. 11. M. Nores, a young gentleman, who embarked 
with M. Du Petit Thouar, and escaped with him to this country. He 
formerly wore the petit collet (the petit collet or little band was formerly 
a distinguishing mark of the secular clergy in France), was a pupil of 
M. de la Chapelle, possessor of a small priory and now earns his subsis- 
tence by cultivating- the ground. 12. John Keating, an Irishman, and 
late captain of the regiment of Welsh. At the beginning of the Revolu- 
tion he was in St. Domingo, where he possessed the confidence of all the 
parties, but refused the most tempting offers of the commissioners of 
the assembly, though his sentiments were truly Democratic. It was 
his choice and determination to retire to America without a shilling in 
his pocket, rather than to acquire power and opulence in St. Domingo 
by violating his first oath. He is a man of uncommon merit, distin- 
guished abilities, extraordinary virtue and invincible disinterestedness. 
His deportment is grave, yet affable. His advice and prudence have 
proved extremely serviceable to M. Talon in every department of his 
business. It was he who negotiated the arrangements between Messrs. 
Morris and Nicholson; and it may be justly said that the confidence, 
which his uncommon abilities and virtue inspire, enables him to adjust 
matters of dispute with much greater facility than most other persons. 
13. M. Renaud and family. He is a rich merchant of St. Domingo, who 
has just arrived with very considerable property, preserved from the 
wreck of an immense fortune. 14. M. Carles, a priest and canon of 
Guernsey, who retired to America with a small fortune and who has 
now settled at Asylum; he is an industrious and much respected farmer. 
15. M. Brevost, a citizen of Paris, celebrated for his benevolence; he 
was a member of all benevolent societies, treasurer of the philanthropic 
society, and retired to America with some property, a considerable part 
of which he expended on a settlement, which he attempted to establish 
on the banks of the Chenango, but which did not eventually succeed. He 
now cultivates his lot of ground on the Loyalsock, as if his whole life had 
been devoted to the same pursuit; and the cheerful serenity of a gentle, 
candid, philosophical mind still attends him in his laborious retreat. His 
wife and sister-in-law, who have also settled here, share in his tran- 
quility and his happiness. 16. Madame d'Autremont, with her three 
children. She is the widow of a steward (?) of Paris. Two of her sons 
are grown up; one was a notary and the other a watchmaker; but they 
have now become hewers of wood and tillers of the ground, and secure 
by their zeal, spirit, politeness and unblemished character the sympathy 
and respect of every feeling mind.* 

Sonre families of artisans are also established at Asylum; and such 
as conduct themselves properly can earn great wages. This cannot be 
said of the greatest part of them. They are, in general, very indifferent 
workmen and much addicted to drunkenness. In time, they will be 
superceded bj' more valuable nren; and American families of a better 
description will settle here; for those who reside at present at Asylum 
are scarcely v/orth keeping. 

One of the greatest impediments to the prosperity of this settlement 
will probably arise from the prejudices of some Frenchmen against the 
Americans, unless self-interest and reason should prove the means of 
removing them. These are frequentlj^ manifested with that inconsiderate 
levity, with which Frenchmen in general decide on things and persons 
of the greatest moment; some of them vauntingly declare that they will 
never learn the- language of the country, or enter into conversation with 
an American. Whether particular facts and occurrences can justify this 
prejudice in regard to individuals, I will not affirm; but certain it is, 
that they can never justify it in the latitude of a general opinion. A 
conduct founded on such prejudices would prove extremely hurtful to 
the interests of the colony; the progress of which has been already re- 



*UiitU quite recently it was supposed this was the only list of names, but it Is now 
known that there still exist many records, and accurate lists of names, many more than 
are liere given. 



42 The Story of Some French Refugees 

tarded by so many unavoidable obstacles, that there certainly is no 
occasion to create new ones by purposely exciting the animosity of a 
people, among whom the colony has been formed, and who, in the 
judgment of every impartial man, must be considered as in a state of 
less degeneracy than many European nations. 

The real farmers who reside at Asylum live, upon the whole, on very 
good terms with each other; being duly sensible that harmony is re- 
quisite, to render their situation comfortable and happy. They possess 
no considerable property, and their way of life is simple. M. Talon lives 
in a nianner somewhat more splendid, as he is obliged to maintain a 
number of persons to whom his assistance is indispensable. 

It is to be wished and hoped that the whole settlement may prove 
ultimately successful. A more convenient spot might, doubtless, have 
been chosen. But not to inention that, all ex-post facto judgments are 
unfair, the present situation of the colony appearing so advantageous as 
to warrant the most sanguine hopes of success. Industrious families, 
however, without whom no settlement can prosper, must be invited to 
it; for it naust be considered that, however polished its present inhabit- 
ants may be, the gentlemen cannot so easily dispense with the assistance 
of the artisan and the husbandman, as these can with that of the 
gentleman. 

A speedy adjustment of the present differences between Connecticut 
and Pennsylvania, with respect to the estates contiguous to the lands of 
Asylum, would also prove a desirable and fortunate circumstance for 
this colony. None but persons of indifferent character are willing to 
settle on ground, the title to which remains a matter of dispute. Even 
the small number of colonists we found between Wilkes-Barre and 
Tioga are by no means praiseworthy in their morals; and they are 
poor, lazy, drunken, ciuarrelsome, and extremely negligent in the culture 
of their lands. The valuable emigrants from New England on the 
eastern branch of the Susquehanna, who should be encouraged to settle 
here, will certainly not make their appearance, till they can be sure of 
cultivating their lands without opposition, and of retaining the undis- 
turbed possession of their estates. It is therefore of the greatest im- 
portance to the company of Asylum, that this weighty business should 
be speedily and finally adjusted. When that is accomplished, the com- 
pany will doubtless embrace the earliest opportunity of advertising the 
whole million acres; they will endeavor to combine separate estates 
with each other, by purchasing the intervening lands, they will make 
public their right of property, pursue a well concerted general plan, 
execute it with the requisite care and dispatch, and make the necessary 
sacrifices. They will perceive how advantageous and important it is to 
place Asylum, as it were, in full activity by constructing the roads al- 
ready projected and commenced, by establishing a school, by inviting 
industrious settlers and by endeavoring to meliorate the breeds of horses 
and cattle; in short, by encouraging useful establishments of every kind. 
A few hundreds of dollars laid out here properly would produce the most 
considerable and lasting improvements. In such cases, however, it is 
requisite to calculate well, that we may expend judiciously. By prudent 
and liberal measures, the prosperity of this French colony, and conse- 
quently of the company, would be essentially insured and promoted. 
And when this settlement shall have once ripened into a flourishing 
state, it will serve to connect the country, which is already cultivated 
along the banks of the river, above and below Asylum, and thus prove a 
source of animation to this interesting part of Pennsylvania. But, unless 
active and judicious measures be pursued. Asylum will inevitably suffer 
from the partial inconveniences which attend its situation, and from 
the errors committed in the first formation of this colony; and instead 
of attaining to the wished for prosperity, it must, on the contrary, find 
its decline, if not downfall, in the very nature of its establishment. 

Everything in this settlement, at present, appears in a precarious con- 
dition. The price of provision depends on a variety of fluctuating cir- 
cumstances. By the activity and prudence of certain individuals, the 
town is abundantly supplied with grain and meat, and this honest econ- 



The Story of Some French Refugees 43 

omy keeps provisions at a moderate price. But men of a less liberal 
way of thinking- have it also in their power to occasion scarcity of the 
first necessaries of life, and raise their price to a rate beyond all pro- 
portion to that of other commodities. The information, which I have 
been able to collect relative to the state of agriculture, however accurate 
at the present moment, can hardly be thought sufficient for the direction 
of a planter, who should incline to settle here; I shall, however, lay it 
before my readers such as it is. 

The land behind the town is tolerably good; but that on the banks of 
the river consists of excellent meadows, laid out by families who settled 
here before the present colonists, producing very good hay, pretty con- 
siderable in quan.tity, and they are capable of still farther improvements. 
The soil of Loyalsock is, in general, excellent. Many trees grow there, 
which evinces its goodness, such as the white Virginia walnut tree, white 
oak, plane tree, sugar maple and hemlock flr. It is a circumstance 
worthy of notice, that half way between Loyalsock and Asylum, common 
oak, which in the fields about the latter place is found in abundance, be- 
comes at once so scarce that not 200 oak trees grow in the whole d' strict 
of Loyalsock, which contains 2,500 acres The price of the co!n:^any's 
land is at present $2.50 per acre; very little, however, is sold. That of 
the town of Asjdum fetches little more; although there is little doubt 
that the price will raise gradually to $3 0. The land contiguous to 
Asylum, which does not belong to the company, being at present in an 
unsettled state with respect to right of property, this circumstance ren- 
ders it a very undesirable possession for such settlers as lo not wish 
to expose themselves to the danger of subsequent litigations, and conse- 
quently to being dispossessed of their purchases. Hitherto the grain ap- 
pears to have suffered but little from the Hessian fly and from blights. 
The winter lasts here from four and a half to five months. Agricultvire, 
however, has hitherto advanced so slowly that the cattle suffer much 
during that seasoi:i for want of fodder. They are for the most part fed 
with turnips, gourds and straw of Indian corn. Both oxen and cows are 
of a very indifferent sort, as little attention has been paid to the breed of 
cattle brought hither by the settlers. Both seed time and harvest take 
place here about a fortnight later than in the vicinity of Philadelphia. 
The land yields about 15 or 20 bushels of wheat, 60 bushels of Indian 
corn and three tons of hay per acre. The soil seems naturally better 
adapted for meadows than for corn land; but from the little trouble at- 
tending the driving of the cattle into the forest, the produce in corn is 
rather apparently great than so in fact. In ploughing they generally 
employ oxen, which, it should be observed, are not subject to any par- 
ticular disease. They are at times driven to Philadelphia; and the 
country people frequently act here with so little judgment, as even to 
send them 200 miles off, when they might obtain much better prices, 
and even ready money, in the neighborhood. The bullocks, which are 
consumed in Asylum, are generally brought from the back settlements, 
but it is frequently found necessary to send thither for them. They are 
generally plentiful; the uncommon duration of the last winter, however, 
proved so destructive to the cattle that few are now to be seen, and a 
great scarcity of beef prevails at Asylum as well as in various other 
parts of America. 

The grain, which is not consumed in Asylum, finds a market in Wilkes- 
Barre and is transported thither on the river. In the same manner all 
kinds of merchandise are conveyed from Philadelphia to Asylum. They 
are carried in wagons as far as Harrisburg, and thence sent in barges 
up the river. The freight amounts, in the whole, to $2 per cwt. The 
salt com.es from the salt houses at Genesee, on the lake of Ontario. Flax 
is produced in the country about Asyluna; and the soil is very fit for pro- 
ducing crops of that commodity. Maple sugar is made here in great 
abundance. Each tree is computed to yield upon an average from two 
pounds and a half to three a year. Molasses and vinegar are also pre- 
pared here. I have seen Messrs. De Vilaine and Dandelot make sugar in 
this place, which much surpasses any of the same kind that has hitherto 
come under my observation. A considerable quantity of tar is also made, 
and sold for $4 per barrel containing 32 gallons. Day laborers are paid 



44 The Story of Some French Refugees 

at the rate of five shillings a day. M. de Montulle employs workmen 
from the eastern branch of the river to clear his land; to these he pays 
half a dollar a day, besides allowing them their victuals; the overseer 
receives a dollar and a third per day; these people turn out to be very 
good workmen. They are easily procured, when employment is ensured 
to them for any length of time; but otherwise it is very difficult to 
obtain them. The manufacture of potashes has also been commenced at 
Asylum, and it is in contemplation to attempt the brewing of malt 
liquor*. A corn mill and a saw mill are building on the Loyalsock.** 

The foregoing is a brief sketch of the present state of this interesting 
settlement, which even a twelve months hence will no longer retain its 
present features. To judge from the actual condition of the probable 
progress and duration of this infant colony, it must either rise or fall 
rapidly. It is to be hoped that the want of familiarity to the original 
in my description, which may be observable next year in the colony, 
will arise from its rapid progress toward maturity, and this hope is 
grounded on probable appearances. 

Tuesday, the 2d of June. On our arrival at Asylum, it was not our 
intention to have stopped more than four days in that place. But the 
pleasure of meeting with M. and Madame de Blacons,*** a desire to 
obtain a thorough knowledge of the present state of the colony, as well 
as of its prospects of future improvement; and the cordial reception we 
experienced from all its inhabitants induced us to add four days to our 
stay, and in the whole we stopped twelve days. On Tuesday, the 2d of 
June, we at length took our departure. Messrs. de Blacons and DuPetit 
Thouar joined our caravan; the latter, who travelled on foot, had set out 
the preceding evening. 

There lias been discovered in recent years by a young antiqua- 
rian, descendant of an Asylum emigre, a very interesting auto- 
graph letter, written by Rochefoucauld at the end of his trip 
through Pennsylvania. While curiously enough it is not dated, 
the contents show the time of writing. The letter is addressed to 
-0 "Mr. Wauberket— Ministre d 'Holland, Philadelphia." The letter 

^'-' is written at Asylum or as it is written "Asylum Lery, " interpret- 

ed by a scholar to be intended for As3dumde roi, in confirmation 
of the conjectured plan of a royal refuge. The incentive of the 
letter were the notes of introduction given the traveler by the 
Dutch minister to various people in large towns of Pennsylvania. 
He expressed great pleasure in his journey through Pennsylvania 
-which he declared had great sources of prosperity, great activity, 
great efforts to attain prosperity. 

"All goes forward with a prodigious rapidity, and, without doubt in a 
very short time the state of Pennsylvania will show at all points a domain 
comparable with those of Europe, and resources in every respect in ad- 
vance of what had been supposed. I am much more satisfied with the 
establishment of Azylum than I had expected. With further efforts of 



* Colin had a distillery in 1801. 

**There is in existence an old map made by Coxe Ellis. Deputy Surveyor for thirty 
years, (obtained from his grandson William Ellis at Munoy bj- Ulysses Bird) of about 
this date, on whioh are plotted seventy-four warrants labelled "The New French Settle- 
ments." These were north of Cherry Mills and Dushore. On one side of the map 
is mention of the mills noted by Liancourt, also that "on No. 30 a village is laid out 
and a wagon road completed to Standing Stone or Asylum." Talon's Road! 

***Lucretius de Blacons was of the nobility, having the title of JIarquis. As a member 
of the Constituent Assembly and adviser of the King, he had incurred the displeasure of 
Robespierre and was obliged to flee in haste. 



The Story op Some French Refugees 45 

the Company more concerted, and made with intelligence, this establish- 
ment will be in a great wave of prosperity and business will become 
excellent. We leave to-morrow for Tyoga, and from there pursue our 
journey. 

I have the honor to be. Monsieur, your very respectful servant, 

Liancourt. 

I will dare to beg of you to present my respects to Mr. Bingham, 
Asylum Lery." 

The Duke says the little shops flourished "rather to the detri- 
ment of those at the nearest settlement, Tioga Point. ' ' Religious 
services were conducted in the log chapel by M. Fromentin and M. 
Carles. Some marriages occurred there. Some one of the emigres 
brought Math them a beautiful illuminated missal which was doubt- 
less used in the services. This missal was given to Laporte; his 
son Judge Laporte gave it to Father Toner, a priest ministering in 
Towanda sixty or more years ago. Recently when inquiry was 
made, it was learned that Father Toner carried it to Rome and 
presented it to the Vatican museum. The chapel and services 
therein have had much written about them. As this statement 
was made mthout verification, since previous publication diligent 
inquiry has been made by the author, assisted by the late Martin 
I. Griffin of the American Catholic Historical Society. Mr. Griffin 
knowing the proper sources of information, sought in vain for rec- 
ord of application to a bishop for power to administer the Sacra- 
ments. All previous statements by Catholic writers were to the 
effect that there were no services and no chapel. In 1855 Henry de 
Courcy, a French journalist, visited America and wrote for some 
French periodicals an account of the Catholic Church in this 
country. He corresponded with John Keating, then ninety-five 
years old, concerning this matter and his letters are still in exis- 
tence. We have pursued in vain every possible clew hoping to find 
Keating 's answers. De Courcy wrote Sept. 5, 1855: 

"I am anxious to kno'w if the four clergymen took wifes in Pennsyl- 
vania and what became of them. I suppose that the several clergymen, 
(Bec-de-lievre, Fromentin, &c) who were among you did not act as 
clergymen at Asylum. Did you build a chapel there and was some one 
of those priests acting as pastor? Archbishop Kenrick writes me that 
in the archives of Baltimore he finds no trace that any of those clergy^ 
men made application to Bishop Carroll for power to administer the 
sacrements. It is important to me to ascertain if there was any Catholic 
Cult celebrated at Asylum." 

Several letters passed between them, mostly personal, but Oct. 1 De 
Courcy wrote again, saying: 

"I have read with an extreme pleasure your valuable information and 
they answer positively my purpose. M. de Bec-de-Lievre is noted as a 
priest and even a canon by Rochefoucauld. I know the family of that 
name in Brittany, and .1 have written to Nantes to know if the settler 
at Asylum returned there, and what became of him. Permit me to ask 
if I read well the name of the priest who went to Louisiana; is it Fro- 



46 The Story of Some French Refugees 

nientin? Did he emigrate also in 17 9 3, or is he from Brittany? Fro- 
mentin is a Breton name. Is M. Laporte of Asylum still a Catholic?" 

In the light of recent discoveries it seems strange that Keating 
so replied that De Courcy published the statement, translated by 
Shea in 1856 as follows : 

"In 17 9 4 thirty families of French officers and nobility founded the 
Colony of Asylum near Towanda in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, 
They were attended by several priests — the Abbe de Bee de Lievre, a 
canon of Brittany; the Abbe Carles, canon of Quercy; the Abbe Fromen- 
tin of Etampes; the Abbe de Sevigny, Archdeacon of Tours; M. Nores, 
a graduate of Holy Chapel and possessor of a small priory, although not 
in orders, was another of the party. But these ecclesiastics were not of 
the order of the virtuous Sulpitians, who at the same time offered their 
services to Bishop Carroll, and hastened to preach the Gospel wherever 
that prelate sent them. The Abbes of Asylum never asked Bishop Car- 
roll for faculties to exerciss the ministry in America, and thinking only 
of the goods of this world, became grocers or farmers. In a spot which 
contained four priests, mass was never offered. They never thought of 
arranging a place for a chapel, where the settlers might meet morning 
and evening to raise up their hearts to God. No worship was practiced 
among these brilliant officers, their companions and children; and this 
shows how far the philosophy of Voltaire had spread its ravages in the 
hearts of families, and even in the sanctuary. As soon as the nobles 
and clergy could return to France, the more influential of the colonists 
hastened to leave America. There remained only the farmers and me- 
chanics; and among the descendants of them to-day, there is not a single 
Catholic." — From "The Catholic Church in America," Shea, pp. 292-3. 

Whatever Keating may have written, Ave have sufficient evidence 
to believe the Courcy-Shea statement an error. First, from the 
records, the statement that on "June 5, 1795, a suitable town lot, 
tAventy acres in the flats, and tAvo thousand acres elseAAdiere, Avere 
appropriated by the Managers for the support of a school and 
chapel at the toAAm of Asylum." Second, A^arious accounts, using 
the title ''Abbe," a bill for "one table for the priest;" third, the 
missal; fourth, aitd this lias never Ijefore teen pul)lished''> the very 
recent discovery among papers at Harrisburg of an account of 
Abbe Colin AAdth the Company. One of the items thus reads 
(translated) "to the grand vicar of the Bishop of Baltimore for 
tAvo altar stones £2.15s0." The reader must draAv his owi^ con- 
clusions. The late Rev. David Craft acknoAvledged that he had no 
real evidence of the existence of a chapel. Martin Griffiu thought 
faculties might have been obtained in Philadelphia, but the sug- 
gestion of a Catholic priest, that they might have been obtained at 
Baltimore and not recorded, seems; a plausible theory. Judge 
Stevens of Standing Stone Avriting in 1824 speaks of "Ezra Fro- 
mentin, a Priest at Asylum" and again, "Colin Ex-Bishop, John 
V. Becedelievre, a priest of high order, Ezra Fromentiii, acting 
Priest in Asylum, since and perhaps noAV Judge in one of the 
Floridas. " "Griffin folloAved the after historv of the Asvlum 



The Story of Some French Refugees 47 

priests and has recorded it. He also states that in 1806 Father 
Dilhet of Baltimore visited the few settlers remaining at Asylum, 
In 1834 Bishop Kenrick writing of the colony says : 

"Being left for some years without any religious services I am told 
that scarcely any trace of the Catholic faith is to be found among them. 
Nearly all the original settlers are dead and their children having no 
one to instruct them in the faith of their fathers, have joined the sects 
in w^hose midst they have been brought up." 

Were it not for those altar stones we would favor Griffin's sug- 
gestion that application was made to Rev. Francis A. Fleming, 
resident at Philadelphia prior to his death by yellow fever in 
October, 1793. 

A grist mill run by horse power wals built (the first in Bradford 
County). It is said that one of the ladies gave her silk dress for 
bolting cloth. 

In 1794 Louis Lefevre was licensed to keep an inn in Asylum; 
in 1795 Heraud, the partner of I^aporte, obtained a similar license 
and in 1797 Reginer and Becdelievre. The latter kept a store 
near where Miller 's house now is until 1802 ; and among the 
earliest recollections of Abraham Vanderpool (born in 1796) was 
Mr. B 's kindness to him in giving him raisins and candy. He says 
"I thought he Avas a very fine old man." At a later period John 
B. Rosett and Jos. Doyle were engaged in mercantile business, 
removing to Wilkes-Barre in 1804; Roeett originally was a baker. 

Either Antoine or Louis Lefevre 's inn seems to have been on east 
side of river opj)osite Frenchtown. Aubrey was a blacksmith, prob- 
ably a Frenchman. His shop was on the present site of Hagerman's 
large barn wliich also was the Schufeldt location. There are no rec- 
ords by which one can determine just how many French people lived 
at Asylum at its height, and there is no list of names of all settlers. 
There were a few births of Avhich the writer has no record except 
of John Laporte; there were also a few deaths and one suicide, as 
related by Yankee settlers. Mr. Craft says that the cemetery of 
the French was on the broad street now the northeast corner of the 
Gordon farm, and that there were perhaps twenty marked graves, 
but all trace is now obliterated. There are now many cemeteries, 
and the resting places of the families who remained. are all knoAvn 
and marked. 

It is not known that there are in existence any letters or papers 
bearing on Asylum, except those recorded in tins volume, at the 
best all too meagre. Those who returned to France, or some of 
them, gave accounts of the Susquehanna Valley which later at- 



48 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



tracted thither various French families whose descendants still live 
in Bradford County; notably Piollet and Delpeuch. 

One of the most charming characters at the time of the Duke's 
visit, was Aristide Aubert dupetit Thouar, familiarly called "the 




[This authentic portrait was obtained from the Bibliotheque Natioale, 
Paris, at tlie suggestion of M. Jusserand.] 



C^I2^ y^i^iM y 'yC-^ Admiral, ' ' and by the Yau- 

^^V^^^^^^T^^^2^^^ kees "Captain Petitoix." He 
^ ^ ^^^^^^^- "^^" ' ^ ^^ was the most unusual and 

pictures(|ue character attached to the colony, a typical French 
patriot, a Avorthy model for American youth, even though adven- 
turous. He was born August, 1760, in the Chateau of Bonmoi, an 



The Story op Some French Refugees 49 

ancestral home near Saunier, that was still standing in 1905- One 
of his biographers says "Having dreamed for himself the history 
of Robinson Crusoe even to the point of escaping from the College 
of La Fleche, he entered a military school in Paris." The same 
month that France recognized the independence of our American 
colonies, he sought admi'ssion to the navy, was made midshipman 
and embarked at Brest, following the example of Lafayette in 
making common cause with America. "He was in various cam- 
paigns which took place in the American seas," thus even dearer 
to American hearts. His whole recorded life was one of quick 
sympathy, unselfishness, Spartan endurance, extreme loyalty and 
astounding adventure. 

In mature years as in youth, an ardent admirer of Robinson 
Crusoe ; after distinguishing himself in every country with which 
France was at war and losing one arm ; in 1792 he ventured all his 
patrimony on an expedition in search of the lost navigator La 
Perou'se, to which, after a personal interview with Dupetithouar, 
the King himself subscribed. Disaster followed the expidition both 
by land and sea, and his vessel was finally seized by the Portuguese 
on the coast of Brazil and he imprisoned for some months. Having 
finally persuaded the authorities that he was not a revolutionist, 
although his rank had been taken from him in France, he was 
liberated in August, 1793 and came to Philadelphia where he 
arrived worn out and penniless, already well known to Naoilles 
with whom he had fought. He soon attracted the attention of 
Talon, who invited him to go to Asylum as his guest, and contrived 
to aid him by at once offering him employment. Being well versed 
in English, he was given charge of the workmen in the construc- 
tion of buildings, as many accounts written or signed by him show. 
However his natural pride made him anxious to do something on 
his own behalf, and he was allotted, as all purchasers were, a back 
woods lot to be cleared. His was on the Loyalsock. While gener- 
ations of Yankees have worn his name into "Dushore," there are 
still a few who tell you proudly of the one-armed stranger who 
felled the first tree on the site of the town. They are proud of 
the story of the little Frenchman who fought here single handed 
with the wilderness w^hen the nearest settlement was twenty-two 
miles away, choosing rather solitude and hardships than the gaiety 
and idleness of the colonists and the comforts of the ' ' great house ' ' 
which were ever ready for him. So it is written : ' ' The Admiral 
used to depart on Monday for his hermit home, shouldering his axe 
and a week's store of provisions and returning Saturday. He 



50 The Story op Some French Refugees 

scorned a bed but wrapped himself in a blanket and lay on the 
floor, for he never forgot that he was a soldier, and simplicity was 
a cardinal virtue with him." 

When the Duke left Asylum en route for Niagara, he invited 
dupetit Thouar to accompany him; he accepted, but, too poor to 
own a horse and too proud to borroAV one, he walked the whole 
distance, claiming he preferred walking to riding. 

His story was first told by C. F. "Welles in 1836 to John Persun, 
but fully 75 years had passed when these lands were purchased 
by John Mosier, known as the first settler. But was he ? One da^^ 
he was visited by Charles F. Welles of Wyalusing, who, walking 
over the farm with the owner observed on the brow of the hill 
(within what is now the west part of borough limits) a change in 
the appearance of the greensward, and asked how it Avas that it 
appeared so different. Mosier replied, "Oh, there was an old 
clearing here made by a Frenchman a great many years ago." He 
then led to what was traditionally called "the Frenchman's spring" 
and told that when he came he found a large hemlock tree which 
had been felled near the spring and upon it had been placed some 
limbs of the tree vnth a covering of bark, making a rude shelter 
for the hardy pioneer. C. F. Welles, knowing the sturdy inde- 
pendance of the one armed Admiral, and that he was reputed to 
have plunged into the wilderness, considered it safe to assume that 
the chopping on the hill and the rude hut at the foot Avere the 
work of Dupetithouar, and suggested to Samuel Jackson, keeper 
of the only store and public house in the hollow, (Hosier's log 
house being the only dwelling) that he should place the name of 
Dupetithouar on his sign. Later when the Mosier land Avas plotted, 
the surA^eyor AA-rote Dushore on the plot, and subsequently the name 
of the post office Avas changed from Cherry Four Corners to Du- 
shore. On the organization of the borough the people rejected the 
name of Jackson HoIIoav and MosierAuUe for the historical and 
distinctive name of Dushore — and there comes a voice from the 
past — "Readers aauII please to accent the last syllable, and not Avrite 
it Dewshore or Dueshore. ' ' The story of his generosity in parting 
AAdth his linen is not "pure fiction" but is Avell vouched for. 

Many delightful anecdotes of "the Admiral" haA^e been handed 
doAA'n by AA^ord of mouth to the present generation. Perhaps there 
is none more amusing or more characteristic of the man than the 
folloAA'ing : Coming through the Avoods one day from his clearing, 
he met a man nearly naked, avIio told him he had just escaped from 
captiAdty among the Indians. The generous young Frenchman_^at 



The Story of Some French Refugees 51 



once doffed his only shirt and insisted on its acceptance by his 
poorer neighbor ; and buttoning up his coat to conceal his own des- 
titution, proceeded to the mansion at Asylum. That night at din- 
ner, someone of his friends rallied him upon his punctiliousness in 
keeping himself buttoned so closely, in spite of the summer heat. 
The Captain parried the thrust by quick repartee, and it was not 
until the accidental arrival of the beneficiary of his bounty (said 
to have been a Canadian refugee), that the truth of the matter was 
discovered and he was supplied with the needed article. So much 
was his pride respected, that whenever his wardrobe needed replen- 
ishing his friends replaced the worn article secretly to spare his 
mortification. 

This noble man returned to France under the decree of Napoleon 
and applied once more for a place in the navy. "You have but 
one hand," said the minister, "you ought to go on the retired list 
and not on the active." Dupetit Thouar replied, "True, sir, I 
have given one hand to France, but here is another for her service." 
In Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt, he was placed in command of 
"La Tonnant," an old vessel. 

When the enemy was met, he declared the situation unfavorable, 
but said that he should nail his colors to the mast. He fought with 
heroic courage and it is related that when his only arm and one leg 
were shot away by cannon balls, he asked to be thrown overboard, 
since he could no longer serve his country and did not wish to 
remain on deck an encumbrance to discourage the crew. Denied 
this, he calmly awaited death, going down with his ship ; and his 
name is enrolled with that of Casa-Bianca so dear to every school 
boy of the past generation. In Paris and Calais there are streets 
named for him, and even in far Korea a French cafe bears his 
name. The few children at Asylum remembered him as a brave, 
good man who was fond of them-* 

Brave Dupetithouar, the lovely valley of the Susquehanna is 
blessed by the memory of' such a hero ! A true hero ; for it is 
recorded that in 1784 he wrote to a relative: "I do not desire war; 



*In 1821 Mile. Felicie Dupetitliouar announced the publication of tlie -writings of her 
brother, in three volumes, under the title, "Life, Letters, Memoirs, A'oyages and Pamphlets 
of Aristide Dupetithouar," accompanied with fac-siniile drawings, plans and biographical 
notes. "Such of the letters" (says a French Avriter of a later day) "of her brother as 
Mile. Dupetithouar mentioned in her notice, had a character of originality and of interest 
■which leads one to regret that the publication did not take place." For many years ,the 
author has endeavored to learn if these papers were still in existence, even having search 
made in Paris by a noted historian, but all in vain. The biographer Levot says: "Caring 
little to return to France he went to the "United iStates where during three years, in turn 
colonist, traveler, close observer of nature and of man, he did not for one moment allow 
the activity of his spirit to rest." A glowing account of the battle of Aboiikir is given 
by Levot. It was fought at great odds, as several ships directed their fire on the old 
vessel, and Dupetithouar was covered with wounds before he lost the arm and leg. 



52 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



it is a plague to mankind, a sin which makes its voice heard in 
those hearts which are not hardened by ambition or self interest." 

Asylum knew several distinguished visitors to whom we will de- 
vote a later chapter. 

Bright spots their visits in the dull routine of life at Asylum, 
links with a happy past ; the volatile nature of the French asserted 
itself, and the hours were spent in feasting, rejoicing and hunting; 
or, were the weather pleasant, all repaired to the dancing pavilion 
on Prospect Rock, where were held out of door fetes, souvenirs of 
Trianon, doubtless the first picnics in America, 

There v/ere fine ladies as well as noble men among the exiles, 
and it Avas soon evident that the terrors of Paris had not sobered 
them, nor the doctrine of the new philosophy taken deep hold 
within. Even in this rude wilderness they attempted to live the 

life of leisure and frivolity to which 
the,y were accustomed. The women 
dressed, danced and played as at 
Trianon, demanded their rustic ar- 
bors and even a theatre. But though- 
they hunted and feasted and danced, 
life was difficult to the gay Parisians, 
when ever}^ necessity had to be or- 
dered from AVilkes-Barre or Phila- 
delphia, orders for the same being 
sent by the hand of any passing trav- 
eler, since mails were few and irreg- 
ular. Perhaps the expressed senti- 
ment of a modern French historian 
was nearer right however than that 
of the Yankee settlers. On learning 
From Trianon-- that Madame d'Autremont, even in 

a log house, changed her dress several times a day and donned 
' ' full dress or nearly so in the evening, ' ' he thus apostrophizes : 

"Besides representing marvellously the type of the worldly woman 
under the reign of Louis XVI, she showed what energy and courage these 
French women had, although accustomed to luxury, to all the pursuits 
and refinements of elegant life, women, who aside from their 'vapours,' 
seldom had any occupation but to dress, undress and dress again for the 
chatter of their 'salons.' Here, under an imperious necessity, these 




*It was at Petit Trianon that the Qiie«n and her attendants plaj^ed at dairy work. 
one iof the things that antagonized the common people. Every appurtenance was of the 
finest porcelain though in imitation of ruder forms. By the courtesy of the Misses Maurice, 
■we reproduce a churn that was in actual use at Trianon when Jlarie Antoinette was chief 
dairy maid. Over fifty years ago it was presentied to the mother of Mrs. Tilaurice by a 
French family living near New York City. 



The Story op Some French Refugees 



beautiful heedless ones knew how to make themselves into farmers, to 
live in the depths of the woods, to occupy themselves with their cows 
and all the cares of agricultural experiments of the home and the cuisine; 
to wash and mend their own linen. All this habitually, and without 
losing any of their qualities of 'femmes de salon,' they lived just as great 
ladies in the midst of their cows and their chickens as did their grand- 
mothers of the middle ages who wore to their carousals the escutcheons 
of their house, embroidered in silk on their gowns of silver and gold." 

Nor was Madame d 'Autremont alone in these habits for, while 
there is no similar personal record, the various accounts indicate 
that the women were of one mind; Mesdames Gni de Noailles, 
Blacons, Laroiie, Buzard and daughter, Brevost, Cottineau, de 
Sibert and several young women, who had accompanied their 
married sisters. 

While Ave do not know that they were residents of Asylum, divi- 
dends were paid to Felicite Finot Fage and her sister Brigitte. For 
some reason we fancy that one of these was Pontgibaud's milliner 
who invested her all in Asylum stock. 

Though discontented with their surroundings, and disappointed 
in the death of the Queen (the news of which was more than tardy 
in reaching the settlement), yet they amused themselves as best 
they could, to the disgust of the Americans around them. 

One of the oldest inhabitants of Asylum told in 1895 that when 
his father felled a tree, they would ask him to put it across a 
stump that they might while aw^ay the hours "teeter tautering, " 
paying an equivalent of 10 shillings for every teeter. He also says 
they would send his father miles out of the way to cut down trees 
so they could get a good view of the valley. 

Judge Stevens, whose family intermarried Avith the Homets, 
wrote in 1824 of the exiles quite at length for a newspaper of the 
period. He said : 

"Their amusements consisted in riding, walking, swinging, musick (& 
perhaps dancing) and sometimes they passed their time with cards, chess 
or the Back Gammon Board. In their manners they were courteous. 
Polite & affable. in their living they followed the French customs. 
Breakfasted late on Coffee, Fresh Meat, Bread & Butter — Dined at 4 
o-clock. Drank best wine or Brandy, after dinner. Ladies and gentlemen 
who chose drank Tea at evening. I speak of the wealthy, they were able 
to command the best of everything. 

"To conclude, the French who constituted the settlement at Asylum 
consisted of 4 different classes of people; some of the Nobility, and 
Gentlemen of the Court of Louis 16— several of the Clergy, a few Me- 
chanics and a number of the Labouring class, all of whom were entirely 
ignorant of the customs of the country, of the method of clearing and 
cultivating the soil, of keeping or working cattle, of Building houses, of 
making roads, and in fact of everything relating to the settlement of a 
new country. Also ignorant of our language which prevented them from 
obtaining information, and many labouring people of the country took 
advantage of ignorance and want of experience, and charged twice and 
in some instances 4 times the value of the labour." 



54 The Story of Some Feench Refugees 

None of the colonists were fitted to be settlers in a forest. Mr. 
Craft says : ' ' In chopping a tree they cut on all sides while one 
watched to see where it would fall, that they might escape being 
struck. ' ' Nevertheles's they began numerous clearings or ' ' chop- 
pings" as they Avere called by the later settlers. There were ten 
quite well defined in Albany and Terry townships. Mr. Craft once 
made an accurate list of these "French Choppings." At Ladds- 
burg he mentions ''A saw mill about 109 feet above the grist mill 
of Eilenberger. There was also a large log house about 200 feet 
below the mill on the right bank, and several acres cleared." 

The accompanying letter will give a good idea of the colony and 
the difficulties met in clearing, etc. The writer was young and 
not well versed in English, 

(Letter from Alexander d'Autremont to Chas. Boulogne.) 

Asylum July 20th 179 5. 

Mr. Boulogne 
Sir 

we have received the news of your arrival here with all the joy which 
you may easily presume it could give us, but our joy would have been 
more felt if the circumstances in which we find ourselves would not force 
us to quit a place where we have been so cruelly deceived & so unhappy 
& that in the very moment we hear you have fixed your residence at 
Asylum. 

from the very beginning of. this letter you'll say it is the crying bird 
who writes to me. but could it be possible to look on our situation with 
indifference Indebted as we are to j^ou without forseeing when ^ve will 
be able to pay. in such an horrid country as this where we dayly make 
an extravagant expence by the high price of all kinds of provisions and 
all that without any benefit whatsoever even success, to our work, for, 
after having spent much money for the portage of our effects on these 
lands we shall be obliged to transport them again to the town, on account 
of the impossibility in which we are to live this winter in the woods for 
want of land in sufficient quantity sowed to provide even for our cattle. 

In my last handed to j'ou by Mr. Keating I mentioned to you that the 
clearing was going on very slowly that Mr. De Montulle had niade an 
undertaking above his strength, and that from the way they were going 
on it appeared we should have nothing sowed this summer, my fears 
unluckily have been verified, for in the whole tract there are yet only 10 
acres cleared by Brown's company of workmen 5 of which belong to Mr. 
Be Montulle & 5 acres to Mr. Brevost, the latter are not even ready, the 
logs not being yet burnt. 

You'll be able to judge & frightened at the same time of the obstacles 
the settlers have to overcome on these new lands when you'll know that 
the clearing of an acre cost to the company near 3 Dollars, to give you 
an idea thereof you may easily calculate. There is a company of ten 
men who are at work since the beginning of May on Mr. de Laroue's 
land, who will have nearly done in 15 days, and all that time to clear 
between 11 & 12 acres of ground, from that it appears to me that Mr. 
de Laroue's clearing will come to 3 6 Dollars thereabout per acre every- 
body here is disgusted, everybody talks of quitting, even Mr. de Montulle 
who says that if he could get one or 2 shillings proffit on his purchase 
per acre he would give up all Ideas of settling in this Country 

Come Sir, Come very quick, come to reestablish confidence for it is 
terribly low every where; your arrival will doubtless cheer up many- 
people, as for us except the pleasure of seeing you it is almost impos- 
sible that your residence here (our only wish last spring) could make 



The Story op Some French Refugees 55 

us support with patience our misfortunes, it is high time for us not to 
trouble you any more of Individuals that have always weighed very heavy 
upon you without being able to show you their gratitude 

Dont believe that my complaints & the resolution which my family 
hath taken of quitting of ever this country are the result of incon- 
stanty or levity of our minds, but come here very soon, see & Judge 
yourself of our situation & Mr. Brevost is in the same resolution. 

if I ^vas alone far from complaining of my situation I would Laugh 
at it, but I have a mother who begins to be old whona I cannot leave to 
herself, therefore I pass my young Days in an occupation which will never 
give me a penny's profht; all that I forsee for me is to be for ever ruined 
& remain in the impossibility of doing any thing if I continue to stay 
on Land that cost 3 Dollars per acre for clearing. 

besides my personal sorrows I must answer for a sum Due by the 
Company to one Fuller for son:te wheat which hath been delivered and 
not paid to him; he hath obtained a Writ against me as having con- 
tracted with him; all I could obtain was a Delay which will be at end 
the 18th of august, the sum amounts to 4 pounds 

Esquire Gore hath in his hands for 60 or 70 Dollars of your notes of 
hands. he remitted me a letter which herein inclosed in which he 
explains the matter 

if j^ou have not sold your farm near Philadelphia and if you have not 
engaged a farmer, & if it could suit you to take my family as farmer I 
would accept with pleasure. 

Waiting for the pleasure of seeing you or hearing from you I remain 

D'autremont jr. 

Alexander d'Autreniont had already followed Boulogne to the 
West Indies in the hope of securing a title to the Chenango lands 
he had sold to them. Apparently they felt they had again been 
deceived in the prospects at Asylum. As near as we can judge, 
Boulogne's activities ceased with a transfer of responsibility to 
Hoops in 1795. (Further account to be found in Chapter II.) 

The colony dragged out a forlorn existence for about ten years 
from its inception. Many vicissitudes resulted from the financial 
disasters of its founders and the consequent frequent reorganiza- 
tion; yet, for a time at least, the prevailing note, true to the French 
nature, was cheerfulness. Probably no unsettled country ever saw 
in its midst a colony representative of so much brilliancy and suf- 
fering as this "Azilum" with its nobles, courtiers, soldiers, clergy 
and many a lesser light who had suffered in the crash of the old 
order, or the strife and confusion of the new. Here Royalists, Con- 
stitutionalists, Republicans, aristocrats and plebeians found a com- 
mon bond in the scars left by adversity. There were few among 
them who had not lost friends or property, and their hearts were 
ever in France and their ears strained for every bit of precious 
news. While they had escaped from the strain of uncertain exist- 
ence on the Continent, they had the pressing need of activity to 
supply wants of those near; and above all, the short-lived hope in 
the hearts of many loyal subjects that here their queen and her 
children might find refuge in the land that owed so much to Prance. 
With that hope crushed, doubtless their spirits failed and they 



56 



The Story of Some French Refugees 







\ 



^ 




The Story of Some French Refugees 



57 



eagerly awaited the shifting currents that might carry them safely 
back to their beloved country ; to s4iare her fortunes or misfortunes, 
to work, to fight or to die for her. 

And as sane conditions were restored, France felt the loss of the 
exiles and in 1799 began to institute rehabilitory measures. When 
Napoleon was made consul in 1802, a general amnesty was proposed 
to emigres. None were more pleased than those at Asylum where 
there was an increasing discontent as well as disagreement with the 
Yankee settlers, and more especially the artisans who took great 
advantage of the foreigners and their ignorance of our language. 
It was long ago related by the descendants of those who remained, 
that when the postman brought the good news, he rode into the 
settlement waving his hat and shouting to all he met until he was 
hoarse. Everyone followed his example, throwing up their hats, 
shouting ' ' Vive la France, ' ' and in the ecstatic French fashion em- 
bracing and kissing each other in rapture While there were many 
tears shed. Days were spent in feasting and rejoicing, and the 
majority prepared to return as fast as means could be secured. 
Talon was already gone. De Noalles relinquished his interest in 
1803. Keating was settled in Delaware, as shown by many of the 
receipted accounts. We have no very poisitive records as to when 
the various colonists left, but it is worthy of note that there are no 
deeds to land in Asylum prior to 1803. Talon sold or gave much 
of his land to Laporte, who was made agent, and to him and Charles 
Hornet, both of whom remained, the settlers sold their lands, 
abandoning their houses, which gradually went to decay. At its 
height the colony could boast of only fifty houses and probably not 

more than two hundred 
residents. Daporte and 
his descendants occupied 
"La Grande Maison, " al- 
ways called by them the 
Queen's House, until 1839, 
and in 1840, for fear of 
fire, it was demolished and 
some of the timbers used 
in constructing a carriage 
house, which still stands 
southwest of the house 
Hagerman House built by John, only son of 

Bartholomew Laporte, now known as the Hagerman house, which 
is just southwest of the site of the house built by Talon. 



yfH 


1^ 


l%4. 


R'^^^i 




-s tE& 




1 M.,..:=. 


If! li'r* 1 





58 The Story of Some French Refugees 

As to the other Frenchmen, there are various bits of informa- 
tion gathered from many sources. M. de Blacons returned 
to France, became a member of the National Assembly, and com- 
mitted suicide after reverses at the gaming table. Dr. Buzard 
became an eminent physician in Cuba. Ezra Fromentin, said to 
have been acting priest at Asylum, later became a Judge in Flor- 
ida. Abbe Colin went to the West Indies as chaplain in the army 
about 1802, and later made his way to Charleston, S. C, where he 
lived until his death in 1824. Abbe Carles alone proved faithful 
to his vows, (according to Griffin) serving his church faithfully in 
San Domingo, in Savannah and France. Becdelievre returned to 
France in 1808, also Montulle. Beaulieu, who had served in the 
American Revolution, remained in America and his descendants 
are now kno\Am by name of Boileau. According to existing letters, 
the Laroues returned to France in 1801. Old Mrs. Vanderpoel said 
the last of the French went away about 1804 although not together. 
We know of Peter Regnier only by two letters in our possession, 
the first addressed to John Keating in 1799 saying that he was 
leaving for a voyage of six or seven weeks; the second addressed 
— ' ' Judge Obadiah Gore at Old Schechekeen by Wilkes- 
barre, " written at Wilmington, Nov. 1903. While part of this 
letter concerned the sale of his mill at Asylum, he adds the follow- 
ing interesting observations: "After a long journey two years in 
Europe, I am returned to this country, with the intention never to 
quit it again, being of opinion that there is not a better one in the 
world ! ' ' And this in spite of the fact that on his second arrival 
he found his business partner had made his escape to the West 
Indies with a large sum of money that Regnier had remitted after 
selling his properties in France. His good use of English and 
excellent penmanship prove that Regnier was a man of education. 
John Brevost is said to have been the last Frenchman to leave 
Asylum, perhaps because he had advertised the opening of a French 
school there.* 



*WILKES-BAREE GAZETTE— PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH WRIGHT. 
A French School. 

The subscriber, a Frenchman born in Paris, where he resided from his birth until he 
was thirty-three years of age, respectfullj^ informs the public that he intends to open at 
Asylum a school for teaching the French langiiage. He flatters himself that he Is able 
to give a knowledge of his tongue and its pronunciation as it is spoken among (the well 
educated people of Paris. He knows by experience that in a period of eighteen months, 
by living in his family and pursuing a regular coiu'se of study, a child of cotmnxon under- 
standing and who is previously taught to write will be able to speak that tongue correctly. 

The price of tuition and boarding a child between the age of ten and sixteen years 
will be sixty hushels of wheat per year, to be delivered at Newtown, Tioga, Asylum, or 
Wilkes-Barre, at the places pointed out by the subscriber, one half every six months. 

It is Avell known how useful is the knowledge of a language which vvathin a hundrert 
years has become the common tongue of Europe; is spoken by two large regions of the 
continent and which the reward of a sincere friendship between the American and French 
nations will render necessarj- to young gentlemen who intend to follow the political or 
mercantile life. John Brevost. 

Asylum, Luzerne Co. Penna. Jan. 5, 1801. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 59 

Brevost went to Ceres where he was appointed, in 1805, the first 
Justice of Peace. He 'took with him a colored boy born at Asylum 
in 1793 and named "Asjdum Peters." He was the only slave ever 
held in Ceres and was sold by Brevost for $100. After living there 
a number of years Brevost removed to New Orleans. 

Major Adam Hoops, so long the managing agent, went to the 
Ceres lands in 1804, where he was reported as "a man of means 
and culture, enterprising and helpful." Of the French who re- 
mained at Asylum more will be given in Biographies. 

June 1, 1917, we have just found a few more records of service 
of Asylum exiles in our Revolutionary War which should interest 
all readers. Blanchard, Beaulieu, Autichamp, Cadignan, Cottin- 
eau, Montulle, de Villaines increase our debt to France for deeds 
of the past. 

Blanchard was reported by General Rochambeau after Yorkto-^^oi 
as a man of the greatest distinction. He and his: son were Com- 
missioners of War. 

Autichamp especially distinguished himself at Yorkto\\ai. 

Beaulieu served in the Legion of Pulaski as Captain of Infantry. 
He was wounded in the fight of Saint Lucia. 

"Baron de Cadignan was Colonel of a St. Domingo regiment 
which came to this continent to take part in the siege of York- 
town." Montulle had honorable mention. 

Denis W. Cottineau was Captain of the ship Pallas in the 
engagement between the Serapis and the Bonhomme Richard. 

Judging from the scanty evidence they have left concerning it, 
Azilum to its founders and visitors was soon only an episode, a 
brief hour in their checkered lives, perhaps one of the less lurid 
bits of existence in which the Revolution, fickle mistress, left small 
chance of monotony. But perhaps the mind-starved pioneers of 
the Pennsylvania wilderness, absorbed in the fierce struggle of the 
frontiersman for existence, had more to thank them for than he 
realized. Fresh from the heart of a civilization fam.ous for its 
luxury and frivolity, fresh from the seething centre of European 
life, this little group of brilliant men and women brought into the 
atmosphere of dull routine and hardships of the backwoods a zest 
in life, a spirit, a mode of living which was the unending marvel 
of the Yankees and of their descendants to this day. They had 
also established regular posts, better roads, circulation of cash and 
a knowledge of the comforts of civilization. 

Judge Stevens thus summarizes the whole venture : 



60 The Story op Some French Refugees 

"If Talon with a liberal hand seldom equalled, extended relief to hun- 
dreds of his distressed countrymen, if with an extensive foresight, a 
correctness of judgment and an energy of decision which few men pos- 
sess, he was able to create resources sufficient to supply the expense 
and keep good his fund, he certainly made a great mistake in fixing on 
a place for settlement in a great bow of the river, where it was not only 
unlikely but almost impossible that any traveled road up and down the 
river should ever pass except for the special accommodation of the 
village, being surrounded with high hills on every side but the north, 
and all convenience of comniunication cut off on that side by the river 
with a large cluster of islands and swift water. In this way, being cut 
off from all Post Roads and communication with travelers, it is easily 
seen that the town could never have become a very public place especially 
as the Company did not own the immediate adjacent country. But he 
is gone, the French settlers are gone and the settlement converted into 
a few good farms, and Asylum is become the name of the township." 

In these conclusions Judge Stevens ignored the fact that the 
location was specially chosen for its inaccessibility because of the 
original plan of Talon and deNoailles here to secrete the Royal 
Family of France ! 

In 1804 Asylum wasi visited by Alex. Wilson, but must have 
been practically abandoned then. In 1809 a traveler mentions 
passing ' ' the ruins of Asylum. ' ' In 1824 few houses were standing 
except that of Talon. In 1836 the whole town site was plowed up 
by Ulysses Moody; he told the writer it was grown over with sap- 
lings and nothing remained of the houses but the cellars. To-day 
not a trace remains except in the old French road, a few country 
roads, where streets were laid out, and the names of Laporte and 
Hornet. 

Asylum to-day is situated in Bradford County. The original 
township was taken from Wyalusing in 1814. From this Albany 
was set off in 1824. Durell was formed from Asylum, Monroe and 
Wilmot in 1842. Wilmot reorganized with part of Asylum in 
1858. Then followed a dispute over names, settled in 1859 by 
changing the name of Durell to Asylum and of what had been 
Asylum last to Terry. To visit Asylum one may stop off at the 
station on Lehigh Valley R. R., called Homet's Ferry, cross the 
ferry and persuade someone to carry him to the site of the old 
French town, now included in the farms of the Laportes, Gordons 
and Hagermans. 

In 1917 the motorist may go from Towanda, finding a good road 
all the way; or leave the railroad at Standing Stone, crossing a 
good bridge across the Susquehanna. He will find many prosperous 
homes of the descendants of Charles Homet and Bartholemew La- 
porte, and having reached the Market Square on the Laporte farm 
he will find the Boulder and tablet with appropriate inscription 
as follows : 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



61 



THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED 

TO COMMEMORATE AND PERPETUATE 

THE MEMORY AND DEEDS OP 

THE FRENCH ROYALIST REFUGEES 

WHO ESCAPED FROM FRANCE 

AND THE HORRORS OF ITS REVOLUTION 

AND FROM THE REVOLUTION IN SAN DOMINGO 

SETTLED HERE IN 1793 

AND LOCATED AND LAID OUT THE TOWN OP 

ASYLUM 

UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE VISCOUNT de 

NOAILLES AND MARQUIS ANTOINE OMER TALON 

IN 17 96 LOUIS PHILIPPE, DUKE OF ORLEANS 
AFTERWARDS KING OF FRANCE, VISITED HERE 

THE PRINCE de TALLEYRAND 

THE DUKE de la ROCHEFOUCAULD de LIANCOURT 

AND MANY OTHER DISTINGUISHED FRENCHMEN 

WERE VISITORS OR RESIDENTS FOR A SHORT TIME 

AT ASYLUM. 

ERECTED IN 1916 BY JOHN W. MIX 

AND CHARLES d' AUTREMONT, JR. 

DESCENDANTS OF FRENCH REFUGEE SETTLERS 

LAND DONATED BY GEORGE LAPORTE HEIRS 

Let him visit the site of the Queen's House, drink from the 
very spring that furnished water for Talon and his guests, climb 
the hill to the little burial plot of the Laportes, or higher still to the 
"Table Rock" where the French women delighted to serve tea. He 
will be in sympathy with those dames who demanded the cutting 
of trees that obstructed the view of the lovely winding river, and 
he will ever remember the story of the French refugees and their 
' ' Azilum. ' ' 




62 



The Story of Some French Refugees 







M 



si 




The Story of Some French Refugees 63 



CHAPTER II 

Business Methods and Activities at Asylum 
From the Account Books 

Here, as elsewhere, so much has come to hand since publication 
of first edition, that it seemed best to devote a separate chapter to 
business methods, rather than to attempt to incorporate in old nar- 
rative. During the Civil "War, the late Harmon A. Chambers of 
Philadelphia, one of those history-loving surveyors, haunted the 
sales of old papers and ransacked many places of sale, buying at 
a nominal sum all the papers that seemed to him valuable. To him 
we are indebted for some leaves from what was doubtless the first 
Journal of Entry of the Asylum Company, opened at Philadelphia 
April 22, 1794, a date coincident with that of the organization of 
the first Asylum Company. Mr. Chambers had the whole book, 
but it was so heavy and with so few entries that he cut out the 
twenty-five pages of writing, for the entries only extended to July 
14, 1795, just covering the purchase by Nicholson of Morris' in- 
terest (see Appendix) and the payments of the first dividends. 

First entry, April 22 — "To Stock — For the quantity of Lands to 
be supplied by Morris, Nicholson, de Noailles and Talon, conform- 
ably to their agreement of this date, and for which they are to 
receive 5000 Shares to be delivered in proportion as the lands are 
supplied at the rate of 200 acres per share. ' ' 

May 12, Stock in lands — 24 tracts in Luzerne County containing 
9.589 acres at 8 shillings per acre. Nicholson paid on June 4 $2000, 
and July 8th John Keating gave a note payable in 60 days to 
Nicholson for $3000. 

In August Boulogne began to draw on Morris, Nicholson and 
Hollenback at sight for large sums with which to pay the workmen. 
As has already been noted, his deinands were constant and even 
querulous as was his nature. As we have only his letters to Mat- 
thias Hollenback we do not know both sides of the story. 



64 



The Story of Some French Refugees 




The Story of Some French Refugees 65 

(Boulogne to Hollenback, by the hand of Obadiah Gore Esq.) (Nov. 
15, 1793) 

Standing Stone. 9ber 15th 179 3 
Sir: 

Esqre Gore going to your place on account of Business and having 
some business with him to settle, I have drawn this day at sight on you 
& to his order the sum of fifteen dollars which I hope you'll pay on 
presentation and charge it to the account of. Sir, 

Yours 

Ch'es Bu4 Boulogne. 



(Boulogne to Hollenback, by the hand of Asa Johnson) 
(Nov. 16, 1793.) 

Standing Stone, 9ber 16th J 793. 
Sir: 

Confirming my two letters of yesterday one carried to you by the 
Viscount de Noailles the other by Esqre Gore, I write to you this one 
to advise you that I have drawn upon you at sight. 
Dollars 42, order of Asa Johnson 
ditto 46, do of William Dunmead 



Total 88 Dollars, to which Draughts I hope you'll give a due 
acceptance. 

I suppose the Viscount hath spoke to you relating the franklin stove 
and pipes, which we want here, the weather hindering us from having 
the chimneys made; therefore I beg you to send them as quick as 
possible. 

I remain with esteem. 
Sir, Yours, 

Ch'es Boulogne. 



(Boulogne to Hollenback, by Joseph C. Town, Nov. 22, 1793 ) 

Standing Stone, 9ber 22d 1793. 
Sir: 

I received yesterday by Mr. d'Autremont the favour of yours dated 
18th instant, as also the four hundred Dollars which you had delivered 
to him, for which you are credited. And give you by this notice that I 
have drawn this day on you at 20 days sight the sum of one hundred 
and eighty dollars order of Joseph Curtis Town, to which draught I beg 
you to give a due acceptance, also credited you of the same. 

You tell me, sir, in your letter of the 4th instant that you have received 
my two draughts on Robt Morris for 2000 Dollars cash & moreover from 
the Viscount de Noailles one thousand dollars toward my supplies till 
January, which makes in all three thousd Dollars deducting what I had 
received; in your last of the 18th you tell me the 400 Dollars you sent 
me are all you can spare; that as to the supplies you expect to be paid 
as I agreed with you for and no otherwise; and you add you have agreed 
with the Viscount de Noailles to accept my draught on you in the amount 
of 8 00 Dollars. I see nothing clear and explicit in those letters, and I 
should like to know on what I can depend. All I see thro' this, is that 
if you don't intend to be paid down for our supplies, you ought to have 
more than 400 Dollars to spare; and if you do intend to be paid for 
those supplies either beforehand or on the delivery, I wish to know as 
quick as possible and as plain also as possible because I shall act accord- 
ingly. I believe that I ought to know on what ground I am to stand, 
particularly having business with so many hands from all quarters 
for work & being determined to take no engagements that I could not 
fulfill. 

I remain, with Consideration, 

Sir, Yours, 

Ch'es Bue Boulogne. 



66 The Story of Some French Refugees 

(Boulogne to M. H., Nov. 27, 1793.) 

Standing- Stone, 9ber 27th 1793. 
Mathias Hollenback Esqre 
Sii-: 

This is to inform you that according- to your Letter of the 18th instant 
I have drawn to-day on you at t"wenty days sight, order of Mr Elizer 
Gaylord the of sum t-wenty-four Dollars to -which draught I expect you 
■wall g-ive full acceptance & charge to the account of 

Sir, Yours, 

Ch'es Bue Boulogne. 

(Boulogne to M. H., by Palmer Sha-vv, Dec. 3, 1793.) 

Standing Stone, Xber 3d 1793. 
Sir: 

I received by Mr Palmer Shaw your cajioe man the two Barils of 
slacked lime you have sent me, as also the 2 Barils of Nails, one large 
anvil, 1 bick horn*, 1 stack to make nails, and six bars of Iron which 
Mr Dupetit Thouars had left behind him. 

I also received by Mr Town your letter of the 20th last, advising me 
of the arrival here of Esqre Ross's Boat, with different things for the 
settlement. 

I remain, Sir, 
* Beak horn. Yours, 

Ch'es Boulogne. 

(Boulogne to Hollenback, Dec. 3, 1793.) 

Standing Stone, Xber 3d 17 9 3. 
Sir: 

This is to inform you that according to you Letter of the 18th of 
November last I have this day drawn on you at twenty days sight to 
Mr John Harvey or order the sum of fourty two Dollars which you'll 
be kind enough to accept and charge to the account of 

Sir, Yours 

Ch'es Bue Boulogne. 

Boulogne's accounts were all entered in the Journal as "Improve- 
ments at Asylum. ' ' And here we must mention, as often coincident 
with the Journal, the ledger or account book ' kept, as was the 
Journal, by Adam Hoops, agent, which with many small papers 
have recently been discovered or brought to the Avriter's notice in 
the archive department at Harrisburg.* 

This ledger is a home made book, possibly manufactured at 
Asylum. It is a folio of sheets of English made paper (water- 
mark Floyd & Co.) sewed together, ruled by hand and having a 
cover of real homespun linen, hemmed by hand. Accounts opened 
May 21, 1794. First items — Books, stationery, inkstand, blotting 
paj^er, etc., for use of Asylum Company. 

June 4th entry : ' ' Reed of Hon. R. Morris, president of the board, 
of managers of the Asylum Company, a check on the bank of the 
U. S. for $2000," evidently because Hoops was starting for Asylum, 
as the next entry is made there. ' ' June 14. Amt of expenses from 
Philadelphia to this place for self and teervant, £5. 18s— lid. 



*Dr. Jordan having suggested research at Harrisburg, application -was made to Charles 
E. Fritcher, -who enlisted the offices of the Search Clerk, the State Librarian and the 
Archivist, to all of -whom -we are indebted for many favors. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



D7 



The cash from Morris was at once paid to Boulogne to settle 
the workmens' accounts, and curious enough were the many forms 
he used in satisfying, the workmen 's claims when cash was not avail- 
able. His orders or notes were generally signed as agent. 







68 The Story of Some French Refugees 

Many deductions may be made from this book and another 
labelled "Acet- of Adam Hoops with Asylum Company" dates 
same as in ledger already mentioned, and often correisponding 
with entries in Journal. We will give them as they appear of 
interest from consecutive entries. 

Oct. 13, 1794. Morris and Nicholson purchased 1,300 acres of 
land near Tioga Point at 9s. per acre. 

Dec. 31- Morris paid in $500. "toward paying dividends." 
Nicholson furnished all the rest of the cash toward dividends, in 
all $21,679.83. Although Morris is said to have sold out all his 
interest, forty-five shares were in his name as long as the Company 
existed. No dividends Avere paid until July 1, 1795 and then both 
for January and July, $15 per share. February 21, 1795, it is 
recorded that so far, the original j)roprietors — Morris, Nicholson, 
Noailles and Talon had furnished only 352,766 of the million acres 
promised by them as stock. Noailles and Talon failed to fulfill the 
contract (terms not mentioned) which they made with Boulogne, 
and finally he was paid by Asylum Company an indemnity of 
$2,000. In closing the books July 14, 1795, Hoops foots up: "Im- 
provements at Asylum" from April 22, 1794, as having cost 
$12,418.90. 

The log houses had separate kitchens in true southern style, 
doubtless the St. Domingo custom. Dupetithouar seems to have 
charge in Boulogne's place from July 1794, probably during his 
enforced absences. Large bill for freight doubtless by wagon 
* ' from Chemung and Tioga Point ' ', where there were trading posts 
or shops. Keating came in July, 1794, bringing $3,000, less his ex- 
penses. Beaulieu certainly had a shop as well as an inn and 
enough cash to lend to others. Blacons was postmaster, Aubry and 
Julie servants, Jean the butcher, Blanchard and Dunmead masons, 
William Jane shoemaker, MontuUe furnished lumber, J. Town a 
carpenter. There was at first considerable trade with the merchants 
at Tioga Point and cattle were purchased there. Dowry was a boat- 
builder, White a locksmith. Captain Wattles furnished iron and 
crockery ware. Chairs were purchased from Major Dodge, a Yan- 
kee settler. Nearly all the workmen called Dupetithouar Captain, 
not Admiral. 

From July, 1794, many large surveying parties were out, the 
chief head being Christopher Hurlburt, for whom supplies were 
furnished in large quantities as "80 lbs of Biscuit, 122 lbs flour. ' ' 

The mill tract and mill were purchased from Stephen Durell. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 69 

The so-called ''Shenang'O families," d ' Autremont, Brevost aud 
others were each paid seventy dollars" on account of Boulogne's 
engagements with them." d'Autremont had $500 later. Hoops 
was out with the surveyors a month on the ' ' Mahoppeny ' ' and fifty- 
eight days on the Loyalsock and ' ' Towandee. ' ' Charles le Francois 
is often mentioned, evidently at some time an inn-keeper, as he 
furnished bread and whisky to the surveyor's gangs. They were 
large, and evidently there was much difficulty in procuring pro- 
visions and their demands naturally were insistent. One item 
or added items was 299 loaves of bread which cost .16 per loaf. 
They must have been huge ones as wheat was .30 to .75 and pota- 
toes only .30 per bushel. 

There was never enough cash, and there are dozens of notes 
signed by Boulogne for the Company, and other bits of paper still 
more curious. In examining the ledger w^e found again and again 
the entry "Cave a Bon." This was incomprehensible until among 
the bundles of receipts were found many veritable scraps of paper, 
which were evidently written as hurried orders. 

These explained the book entries, written for the benefit of the 
shopkeepers who spoke no English. 



70 The Story op Some French Refugees 




Translations 

1. Good for one bushel of corn. 

2. Good for one quart of whisky. 

3. Good for ten pounds of meat and ten pounds of bread. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 71 

The Company advanced money to any settler for his expenses in 
clearing land. Several of them always wrote the name Aziluni. 
Sometimes the accounts rendered by Boulogne were almost suppli- 
catory in their nature, ending by saying : ' ' Which sum Mr. Hoops 
will pay if it is in his power," and again "Settled with so and so 
by desire of Mr. Talon. ' ' 

Yet added to the $5000 provided by Morris and Keating, James 
Duncan, one of the first share holders, furnished or paid in $5000, 
and Nicholson $400, sight drafts on Robert Morris $2000. Poor 
Morris ! The wondrous financier of our War of the Revolution, 
was drawing very near the debtors' prison, where be it ever 
America's shame, he died. 

The ignorance of the English language led to many confusing 
errors, the man's trade often being used for his surname in orders 
sent in. On the other hand the Yankee twist given the French 
names was often curious indeed as Mr. Bullong, Colebox for Cool- 
baugh and Captain Petitoix. Hoops' washing was. done at the 
expense of the Company, at three shillings and nine pence per 
dozen. Ten shillings was charged for "boy driving cattle from 
Tioga Point to French Settlement," sometimes called "Society of 
Azilum. ' ' 

According to material used, Beaulieu had a very large house 
(number of lot not given) and a large barn with stalls, racks and 
troughs, for which barn were used 4000 shingles at 10s. Another 
large house was that of Myersbach or Morrisback, with twenty- 
nine hundred feet of floors, six rooms, four fireplaces with "Brest- 
works," nine doors, base and surbase finish around the six rooms, 
1887 feet of ceiling at 15s., and a staircase which Boulogne 
thought cost too much, Morrisback was one of the original pur- 
chasers of 1000 acres, but of him we have no other record except 
that he had certain rights on the wharf. Mansy Colin signed his 
first name ' ' Mansury. ' ' He seems to , have had charge of the 
erection of many houses, but especially for the "Shenang families 
in the woods^', Brevost's cost £26 and d ' Autremont 's £24- It was 
in one of Colin 's accounts of various materials for the houses that 
we found the interesting item of the "altar stones ordered from 
the grand vicar of the Bishop of Baltimore" and the stone cut- 
ters' bill for work on same. 



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The Story of Some French Refugees 73 

Following is the only bill of lading for Asylum known to be in exist- 
ence, original in possession of Hollenback heirs. 

(A bill of lading for Mr. Tallon M. H.) 
Effets delivree au Charetier 

Pour Monsieur Tallon 

TRANSLATION 

9. Boittes de Vere a Vilre 9 boxes window glass 

2. Malles 2 trunks 

200. lbs. 'Acier 200 lbs of steel 

6. Boittes de differentes Grandeurs 6 boxes of different sizes 

1. Do. de Moutarde 1 do of mustard 

1. Bbl. contenant Poids et Mesures 1 Bbl. containing weights and 

measures 

2. Q. aux -de- Cordage 2 Cwt. of cordage 

1. Tiercone de Sucre blanc 1 tierce of white sugar 

4. Sacs Caffe 4 sacks coffee 

1. Bbl. de Salpetre 1 Bbl. saltpeter 

1. do. Amidon 1 do. starch 

1. do. Epicerie 1 do. groceries 

1. do. The 1 do. tea 

1. do. Quincaillerie 1 do. hardware 

1. do. Vinegre. 1 do. vinegar. 

Les effets charges sur les Wagons de M. Parrish doivent etre rendue £L 
Wilkes Barre et delivre au Col. Hollinback, qui payera le voiturge Si 
raison de 11 shellings du cent pesant a comte du quel j'ai paye cinquante 
gourdes* tant pour ces objets que pour ceux chargS ches M. Hollings- 
worth et par M. Wright. 

The goods loaded on Mr. Parrish's wagons should be forwarded to 
Wilkes-Barre and delivered to Col. Hollinback, who will pay the cartage 
at the rate of 11 shillings per cwt. on account of which I have paid 
fifty gourdes more for these articles than for those charged to Mr. 
Hollingsworth and by Mr. Wright. 

The annexed letters show methods and difficulties of transpor- 
tation. 

"Sept. 25, 1794. 
Matthias Hollenback 

Sir: 

The following articles I beg you will be so kind as to secure in your 
store, to be forwarded to Asylum to Mr. Keating by the first opportunity. 
As I intend to move up very soon with part of my family, I should like 
to know if the water will allow to go up in a small boot, and whether 
such thing might be procured at Wilkesbarre. In case the water being 
too low for boats, would it be a matter of possibility to hire a canoe 
to carry one ton. I shall take it as a great kindness, Sir, if you will 
take the trouble to give me such information, and likewise if horses 
fetch a good price in your place; as when I move up I shall have two 
capital horses to spare. 

I remain with all esteem, Sir 
Col. Hollenback. Your very obt Servt. 

Pottsgrove, 25th 7bre, 1794. J. Montulle. 

The load consists of three chests covered with leather and skin, two 
chests of plain wood, one large bundle containing beddings, Nos. 12, 13, 
14, 15, 16, 17; six articles and one large copper kettle. 



*"Gourde" is the Franco-American name for the colonial dollar in use in West Indies. 



74 The Story of Some French Refugees 

(John Montulle to M. Hollenback, Nov. 26, 1794.) 

Sir: 

I expect that before long Mr. Heller will forward you some goods 
marked Sibert No 1 — 2 — &c., and likewise some marked MT, and num- 
bered. I beg you will be so kind as to use the first opportunity to send 
them up to Asilum. You will be pleased to let me know what may (be) 
the expense of the carriage and storage (- -) I will make immediate 
remittance. 

Mrs. Sibert and Mrs. La Roue beg to be both remembered to Mrs. 
Hollenback. Please to receive my grateful thanks for your kindness to 
us during our stay at Wilkesbarre, and believe me with all esteem, Sir, 

Your very obt. hble. Servt. 

Asilum, 26, 9b. 1794. J. Montulle. 



(J. Montulle to Mrs. Matthias Hollenback, undated; probably in March 

or April 1795) 

Madam: 

This moment comes to my knowledge that Mrs. Sibert who chiefly 
owns the goods deposited in your store room, had in date of the 8th of 
March written to Mr. Blanchard to take up the said goods. Mr. Colin 
has done the same; therefore it is not in my power to disappoint him. 

J. Montulle. 

John Keating was m'arried in 1797, and thereafter resided in 
Wilmington, but still maintained his interests in Asylum and 
managed som,e of its financial transactions, als sho^^Ti by the letter 
from John Cowden, Post Master, who looked after transportation 
and accounts at Nortbumberland. 

DR. JOHN KEATING IN ACC. WITH JOHN COWDEN CR. 

1798 1798 

9 Oct. to P. King's order fav. Jos. Oct. 25. By my Dfs. on you fav. 

J. Bur £16. 1.10 Saml. Meeker £18.15. 

28 Nov. Do. fav. S. Slade 15.18. 9 By Ball 19.16.10 

28 Nov. Do. fav. Jno. Conway. . 

2.16. 3 

28 Nov. Do. fav. Jerred Welch. . 
3.15. 



£38.11.10 £38.11.10 



Northd. 20th Dec. 1798. 
Dr. Sir: 

I have drawn on you for the above Ballance of Ninteen Pounds 16:10 
fav. Meeker Denman & Co. Respecting the deeds you mentioned to 
me in the lands of Jno. Kidd, I have spoke to him who says he remem- 
bers of only two, they were from Morris Nicholson to Matw. Clarkson 
& Jared Ingersol in trust for the Asylunr Company. These two deeds 
was sent by SherrifC Stewart of Lycoming County to Mr. Gibson. If there 
is any other mention them particularly & I will attend to the business. 
In May 95 I settled an Ace. of Nicholas Gales with Chas. Boulogne and 
Jams. Duncan the Ball, in fav. of Gale was twenty Eight Dolls. & 4:6. 
Mr. Duncan requests me to leave Gales' papers & draw an order on him 



The Story op Some French Refugees 75 

for the amount which I did fav. of Whelen & Miller but was not paid. 
The articles Gale delivered the Asylum Compy. was provisions. He is 
a poor man and if you can conveniently procure the money for him it 
will serve him verry essentially. If that can't be done be so otalig-ing- 
as to send me Gale's Receipts for without them he will with propi-iety 
look to me for the Amt. of the Ball. 

From Yr. Obt. Servt. 

John Cowden. 

A servant's account written by one who had scant command of 
English reads as follows : 

"WALLOIS' ACCOUNT 

"There was due him January 12 
Since 2 8 Sundays at 3-9 
28 half Thursdays 

100 days of drinks or "pour boires." 
The two summer shirts that he has not taken 
Gave to him March 2, a suit of clothes. 
One day of work at his home 
In dollars — 28 dollars. 

I have received from M. Dupetithouar the sum of 11 pounds, 5 shillings 
1 % pence for payment of all accounts at my departure from the French 
establishment of Asylum. 

Wallois." 

There has been little or no mention in local histories of the 
settlement on "the Tawandee" but here we have the record of work 
done building houses there, twenty workmen employed 40 days at 
7 shillings, and the building of six bridges; and later there is the 
bill of a surveyor or explorer of ''a road from Tawandee to the 
Northumberland road," Nov. 22, 1794. Ezekiel Brown, surveyor, 
"began the Loyal Sock road for Major Hoops Sept. 3, 1794 and 
Dec. 3 settled acct. for opening it, 5 hands, 72 days at 4 shillings." 
Andrew Kyle was a "road explorer." 

One amusing acct. of a purveyor to an exploring party indicates 
a- great desire for fresh vegetables. While some English could 
write in French and vice versa here was an illiterate :" for packing 
provishuns in to the woods, for three jurneys, my Self and hors, for 
trobl of geting half Bushel of peas for vittels and Logging one of 
your men. Edward Culver." 

The natural courtesy of the French was shown even in their 
accounts, in which "Beaulieu v/ishes good day to Mr. Hoops and 
prays that he will send him an obligation for Mr. Hopkins' horse," 
and again, he makes his compliments even in asking him to pay a 
ditch digger. 



76 



The Story of Some French Refugees 









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The Story of Some French Refugees 77 

Lumber and shingles were ordered from. Major Pixly at Owego 
— easier to transport down a stream than up. The boat builder 
was ever busy, although the ferry boat with all its appurten- 
ances was purchased from Samuel Hepburn who had a ferry at 
Athens. The ferry at Asylum was opened in October, 1794. It 
has been said that the French built a mill, but these accounts 
show that Durell had a mill which wa'si contracted to Hollen- 
back, but with the mill tract was purchased by the Asylum Com- 
pany for a large sum, one of the three payments being £100. Louis 
Paul d'Autremont evidently went to near-by settlements to pur- 
chase isupplies. Would he could visit Athens now as then, '^hd 
purchase 100 bushels of wheat at 30 cents per bushel, although he 
could not find "Anna Margaret Spalding", of whom he bought it, 
to-day. 

Current prices are of interest. While wheat and potatoes were 
at the same low price, other commodities were higher. Tea was 
14 shillings per lb. and sugar 18 and 20 cents. Small wonder that 
the settlers engaged in the manufacture of maple sugar which 
could be had almost for the asking. We find but one record of 
coffee purchased, but immense amounts of chocolate at 2 shillings 
a pound, and moderate amounts of brandy and whisky. Boulogne 
was paid a salary although he had many shares in the Company's 
lands. Hoops gives accounts only of his living expenses and that 
of "my servant Sam." Servants wages were 3s. 9d. per week! 

The potash works were very active, but there is no mention of 
ever building a distillery or a brewery. The last entries in the 
Harrisburg folio were made in December and show a very careful 
settlement with eyery one at Asylum, and then with those at 
Wilkes-Barre, and the final entry dated Philadelphia, Feb. 15, 
1795, is of a draft on Robert Morris for Colin 's account. There 
was one letter in the bundles addressed to Mr. Adam Hoops, No. 
81 North Sixth Street, Philadelphia, which may have been the 
office of the company. All office supplies were purchased in Phil- 
adelphia of "Dob'son, a stationer;" we note a bottle of india rub- 
ber and a supply of ink powder, and finally "tape and twine, to 
bind up the j)apers in the office." 

Charles Bue Boulogne, while not a founder of Asylum, had so 
much to do with its establishment that it seems fitting to close the 
account of business activities by giving a brief sketch of his life 
or more particularly of his death. We have not investigated his 
ancestry or early life, but we are ready to dispute the statement 
that he was a soldier in the Revolution, finding no evidence of 



78 The Story of Some French Refugees 

service. That he was a lawyer is possible, quite proficient in 
English and active for a number of years in land dealings between 
France and America. We do not know his history from 1795, 
further than that he was paid a dividend on his shares in that 
year. Apparently after establishing the colony, he traveled back 
and forth to Philadelphia, and also the West Indies on Asylum or 
other land business. Fully fifty years ago a student of local history 
wrote of him that his knowledge of the topography of Sullivan 
county was far in advance of any other's even the surveyors who 
laid out roads twenty years after his death. And it was in that 
region he met his death. 

From the Forks of the Loyal Sock a pack horse road known 
as the French Path ran to New Albany, then intersecting a road 
to Asylum. In July, 1796, Boulogne was traveling this road on 
horseback, and attempted to cross the creek near Hillsgrove, when 
it was greatly swollen by a recent storm. The Hill family who 
lived nearby tried to call to, him not to try the ford, but they 
cound not be heard in the storm. His horse stumbled on the rocks 
in midstream, the current was very swift, the girth and the saddle 
gave way and he was plunged into the stream, from which it was 
impossible to extricate himself. He was drowned and was buried 
nearby. Although unmarked, the location of his grave is known 
in the cemetery adjoining the M. E. Church. It lies north and 
south rather than east and west as is the usual custom. There is 
still in existence an inventory preserved by John Hill and his 
descendants. 

We reproduce this paper which was given to us by Ulysses Bird, 
nephew of a Hill descendant. Pierre Brunart was a resident of 
Asylum. Mr. Bird, now deceased, was anxious to have a marker 
put at this long neglected grave, surely a commendable thought. 
There is no other known account of Boulogne's death, nor of his 
successor at Asylum, if he had one. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 79 



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80 



The STORt op Some French Kepugees 



CHAPTER III 
Asylum's Famous Visitors 

In the Recollections of Samuel Breck, (1771-1862), a resident of 
Boston, Philadelphia and France, are many interesting comments 
on the French emigres. He says: 

"Congress held its sessions in Philadelphia until the year 1800, and 
gave to the city the style and tone of a capital. All the distinguished 
emigrants from France took up their abode there. The French Revolu- 
tion was a paroxysm of rage, if I may so express myself, from 179 2 to 
1797 and by its fury kept many of the ablest sons of France abroad. I 
knew personally Talleyrand, de Noailles, Liancourt, Louis Philippe and 
his two brothers." 

All these foreigners made an effort to see the United States, and 
especially to visit the various French colonies. Besides Roche- 
foucauld de Liancourt, who wrote the most about Asylum, the 
colony had several other famous visitors, who came to examine the 
town with a view to investments or refuge ; or again who were 
traveling by the most frequented and well known route to or from 
Niagara Falls, an object of wonder then as now to all foreigners. 
At this time there was a bridlepath from Wilkes-Barre to Niagara 

Falls established by the trader 
Matthias Hollenbaek. 

One of the visitors was Ter- 
nant, a General in the French 
Army, who had accompanied 
Lafayette, and later was Ambas- 
sador to the United States. 
Another was the erstwhile 
Bishop of Autun, well known 
to all as Prince Talleyrand. 
Exiled from France, and ex- 
pelled from England by the ap- 
plication of the alien bill of 
1794, he came to America rather 
against his- will, and remained 
two years. His observations, 
as related in his memoirs, are 
of great interest because he 
Prince Talleyrand gives intimate descriptions of 




I 



The Story of Some French Refugees 81 

all the crudeness which was to him astounding. Indeed he said: 

"The twelve years of the independence of the United States had been 
lost as far as progress in material prosperity had been concerned owing 
to the inefficiency of their first constitution." 

However, he pictured Philadelphia, then the most beautiful city 
of the United States, in glowing terms. On landing he was re- 
ceived by an old acquaintance, Cazenove, then the Philadelphia 
agent of the great Holland Land Company. A few days after his 
arrival, according to law, he took the oath of fidelity to the govern- 
ment of Pennsylvania and of the United States. Lacombe, a recent 
biographer, says his arrival was an event in the American capital ; 
but one who wrote nearer his time said that, renowned and clever 
as he was, he was also something of a scoundrel; and that his ar- 
rival in America was connected with a blackmailing scheme of 
political import. Washington declined to receive him either pub- 
licly or privately and when, about two years later, he wished to 
return to Europe, no vessel was willing to carry him, until a tem- 
pest drove into the Delaware a Prussian ship, whose captain con- 
sented to take the ex-Bishop, or as he was familiarly called, "the 
lame devil." 

But at least the doors of the French were open to him in Phil- 
adelphia, and he soon found de Noailles, Talon and Blacons, and 
of course heard at once of "Azylum." He decided to make a tour 
of the country and traveled most of the time spent here. 

Breck seems to have been more interested than some other writers 
in "Talleyrand-Perigord" as he calls him, who was a frequent 
visitor in his home. He says : 

"He stood conspicuous among the banished noblemen. When he 
started on his travels, such was the reported wild state of the interior, 
that he equipped himself in the costume of a backwoodsman and armed 
himself with a rifle as also his companion. The metamorphis from the 
bishop's lawn and purple to this savage garment was sufRciently 
ridiculous." 

But they were better able to explore the forests. All of his 
friends were exploiting their colonies, and his comments on their 
loghouses (for which he could find no French word) and contents 
are very amusing. His biographer, after gleaning from his letters, 
and mentioning Gallipolis and other colonies visited, thus speaks 
of Asylum : 

"Noailles and Talon associated with Robert Morris, one of the great 
money dealers of the new world, were engaged in the most extensive 
enterprise. Having acquired on the banks of the Susquehannah river of 
Pennsylvania more than a million uncultivated acres, they had there 
laid the foundations of a city, where M. de Blacons and another refugee, 
the Canon Bee de Lievre, each kept an inn for the first colonists. After 



82 The Story of Some French Refugees 

ups and clowns this affair ended in a fiasco, but in the spring of 1794 it 
was well begun, with hope and confidence, and Talleyrand wrote to Mme. 
de Stael he was tormented not to have on hand sufficient funds to take 
his chance there at a fortune. Its projectors, by an exuberance of an- 
nouncements in the press, and agents watching at the seaports for the 
newly arrived, counted on attracting the exiles of Europe. It was the 
fashion to speculate in lands." 

From extracts from his letters to Mme. de Stael, it would seem 
that Talleyrand was more interested in the opportunity to become 
very rich than in the "infernal plan" attributed to him by Min- 
ister Fauchet, who also alludes to "the joy of Talon and de Noailles 
in receiving a reinforcement of constituents who were after their 
own heart." 

Be that as it may, Talleyrand in the course of his travels of 
1794 visited Asylum, was warmly received, and either then or when 
he returned to France, he took with him two of the young men of 
Asylum as aids or secretaries, Casimir de la Roue and Louis Paul 
d'Autremont. He remained in America thirty months, according 
to his memoirs. One of his imi^ressions was that the United States 
of those days was still essentially English, that the services ren- 
dered by the French in the War of Independence Avere outweighed 
with the Americans by the practical advantage of standing well 
with the English merchants who were the United States' best 
customers. Washington appreciated this, and, in the opinion of 
Talleyrand, it dominated his policy, and was a standing obstacle to 
the triumph in America of French influence whether political or 
commercial. Yet, like most of the Frenchmen, and in spite of the 
refusal to see him, he had the greatest admiration for AVashington. 
Washington wrote to Lansdowne expressing regret at his inability 
to receive Talleyrand, adding that he was being treated with a 
friendliness at Philadelphia which would go far to compensate him 
for what he might have lost in quitting Europe, 

He rented a house "in the always elegant quarter of Third . 
Street North, to which came all of his old friends of France. ' ' He 
wrote in a most interesting fashion of the American woodcutter, 
and after he traveled in New England, of the fisherman, and of 
the American people, "one day to be a great people and always 
the wisest and the happiest on earth." Indeed, in spite- of his 
reported excesses, by which it was said he scandalized Americans, 
he won throughout the country a popularity of Avhich traces were 
still found fifty years later. Very little is known about his visit 
to Asylum, but there were many gatherings Avith Liancourt, de 
Noailles and Talon in the little book shop of Moreau de St. Mery, 
where doubtless the problems of the colony were fully discussed. 



The Story op Some French Refugees 83 



The French Princes 

The visitors who were the most famous an,d perhaps the most 
welcome at Asylum were undoubtedly the French Royal Princes 
of the House of Orleans. There are many conflicting statements 
concerning this family and their visit to America, and we have 
endeavored to glean from all sources the most interesting bits of 
truth in regard to them. 

Robespierre especially desired the death of the entire Orleans 
family, hoping thereby to forestall a return to monarchial govern- 
ment. When a decree of banishment was issued for all the Bour- 
bons, the eldest son, kno^\Ti as the Due de Chartres or the Puke of 
Orleans, urged his father to seek a retreat in America. But too 
soon the family were arrested, the father beheaded in November, 
1793, and the younger sons, imprisoned in the Chateau d'lf on an 
island opposite Marseilles. Louis Philippe, as he was afterwards 
known, then twenty-three years old, was in the French army, where 
he had already won distinction for his bravery. On the arrest of 
the family he escaped to Switzerland in April, 1793. We do not 
know about the intervening years, as it is only recorded that he 
arrived in Philadelphia in the ship America twenty-seven days 
from Hamburg, October 24, 1796. Banished from France and 
penniless, their misfortunes attracted the attention of the ever 
generous Robert Morris, who supplied funds to bring the three 
brothers to America. The Due de Montpensier aged seventeen 
and Comte de Beaujolais aged twenty-one were released from im- 
prisonment, on condition of separation from their mother and 
banishment from all Europe. 

They joined their brother in Philadelphia February 6, 1797, 
having taken passage on a brig having on board one hundred 
Americans, just released from imprisonment at Algiers. "All bore 
their exile with philoisopihy, cheerful and resigned." Louis was 
at first entertained by Mr. Coningham, owner of the ship on which 
he came over. Later he had lodgings for himself and brothers on 
Spruce St., near Third. Soon after, having decided to see the 
country, ' ' they travelled on horseback to Pittsburg, equipt as West- 
ern traders with blankets and saddlebags." On their return they 
told Mr. Breck they managed very well along the road, taking 
care of themselves at the taverns and leaving their horses to be 
groomed by their servant, although Louis said : ' ' We could have 



84 The Story of Some French Refugees 

managed very well without any servant, and took one entirely for 
the sake of the horses." They had a total absence of all pride or 
notion of superiority. Lewis F. Cass, author of ' ' France, its King 
and its People, ' ' while ambassador to France wrote : " I have found 
in a French publication a letter dated Philadelphia, August 14, 
1797, written by the Due de Montpensier to his sister, in which he 
describes incidents and impressions of this journey. Having ascer- 
tained from the proper quarter that this letter is genuine I have 
thought an extract not unacceptable : 

"I hope you received the letter which we wrote you from Pittsburg 
two months ago. We were then in the midst of a great journey that was 
finished fifteen days ago." 

It is recorded elsewhere by Cass that they traveled from Pitts- 
burgh to Niagara Falls on foot, thence to Canandaigua where they 
visited Thomas, the son of Robert Morris. It w^as from somewhere 
in this locality that they wrote again to their sister of their vicis- 
situdes, the deep, almost unbroken forests, the heavy swamps and 
the swarms of tormenting mosquitoes. However they had known 
careful training especially in endurance. 

Continuing their journey they traversed Seneca Lake and came 
to Newtown (now Elmira) where they stayed for ten days' with 
Henry Towar, a Frenchman, who kept a public house. He fitted 
up a Durham boat in which they descended the Chemung to Tioga 
Point where they lodged with Dr. Hopkins, (who also entertained 
Talleyrand and other visitors.) . They then pursued their journey 
to Asylum and eventually on to Wilkes-Barre iu 1797. 

Some Wyoming historians state very positively that they were 
in Wilkes-Barre twice, going to Asylum and returning June, 1797, 
but there seems pretty positive evidence of the journey as I have 
related it. However, there is an extract from a sketch of the old 
Arndt tavern at Wilkes-Barre written by one who had opportunity 
to know. 

"Among the guests here were three who arrived June, 1797. No ordi- 
nary persons for they had been born to the purple, princes of the great 
Orleans line. They were the Duke of Orleans afterward King of France 
and his two brothers whom the great and terrible Revolution had made 
fugitives." 

"The visit of the Princes to Asylum was mainly to see and confer with 
Matthias Hollenback, he having been selected by Robert Morris to ar- 
range for their permanent house in America should that become their 
fate. They visited Wilkes-Barre on the way up and also returned, 
coming in on the old Sullivan road, stopping here to rest." 

(Elmira historians say Towar 's boat carried them to Harrisburg, 
whence they went to Philadelphia.) They dined with Matthias 
Hollenback, and all who knew them were charmed. The step- 



The Story op Some French Refugees 



85 



daughter of M. Hollenback often told of the visit — she said the 
future king was rather despondent and absorbed, Montpensier very 
affable and light hearted. He was dressed in a court suit of white 
satin, his cravet and ruffles being of the costliest lace, the envy 
of the ladies to whom he made himself exceedingly agreeable. At 
the table he was next the step-daughter who was in full dress and 
had a fine skin. Pointing to, or touching her arm he said in 
French, "Mademoiselle quel beau cuir!" This writer states that 
they proceeded to New York City and thence to England, where 
they rejoined their family. But we know this is incorrect, for 
Samuel Breek, who knew them well, says they returned to Phil- 
adelphia, and the letter quoted by Cass is further evidence. Breck 
says: 

"On their return M. dOrleans hired very humble lodgings in Fourth 
Street near Prime where I visited him and he did me the favor to trace 
the route they had just taken on a map that hung in his room." 

Some effort was made at this time toward self support. It is 

recorded that Louis Philippe 
gave music lessions, painted a 
miniature of Miss Willing and 
was said to have asked her to 
marry him. He also taught 
French to a group of scholars. 
In the collections of the Histori- 
cal Society of Pennsylvania, we 
found a large old engraving 
entitled "Louis Philippe Teach- 
ing School in Philadelphia." 
Grouped around the school 
room were many distinguished 
men of the day. The portrait 
reproduced here by the courtesy 
of the Historical Society is 
taken from that engraving, and 
by comparison with later por- 
traits, no doubt is a genuine 
likeness. 
In 1798 they made a longer journey, visiting the French colony 
of Gallipolis en route to New Orleans. It was on one or the other 
of these journeys that one of the younger princes was lost in a 
forest and found by an Indian. Going down the Mississippi, they 
visited Louisiana which then belonged to Spain. 

The Chevalier de Carondelet, who commanded for the King of 




86 The Story of Some French Refugees 

Spain received them at New Orleans with all the honours due their 
rank. They were treated with great cordality, one of the richest 
men of the city, Poydras, loaning- them money. Some historians 
say they returned to Europe from here by the way of Cuba 
and Spain, others that they went to England where Montpensier 
died of consumption soon after, and that Beaujolais also died soon 
after at Malta. Again we read they returned to France and all 
married princesses of rank. Robert Douglas, translator of Pontgi- 
baud, says: 

"After spending- some time in America, they left for England where 
they lived on an allowance from the British Government until the 
Restoration." Pontgibaud says: "During their stay in the United 
States no one except the French knew them, saluted them or designated 
them but by the name of "Equality," (a name assumed by their father 
in the first stormy days of the Revolution.) To the Americans this 
appeared the most natural thing in the world. You would read in the 
newspapers that yesterday the Brothers Equality slept in such and 

such a place, or we hear from Town that the Brothers Equality 

have arrived there. When they visited Mount Vernon the negro who 
announced them to Washington said, 'Excellency! Excellency! there are 
three Equalities at the door.' " 

The princes are said to have visited at Asylum for irwo weeks, 
and there were fetes and great hunts in their honor. Talon had 
already left the colony, and doubtless the ensuing chaotic state led 
them to decide against locating there permanently. Probably, at 
this time and later, de Blaeons and his lady entertained the visit- 
ors of rank. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 87 



CHAPTER IV 
Contemporary and Later Accounts of the Colony 

"Gaul's exiled royalists, a pensive train. 

Here raise thfe hut and till the rough domain. 

The way-worn pilgrim to their fires receive, 

Supply his wants; but at his tidings grieve; 

Afflicting news! for ever on the wing, 

A ruined country and a murdered King! 

Peace to their lone retreats while sheltered here, 

May these deep shades to them be doubly dear; 

And Power's proud worshippers, wherever placed, 

Who saw such grandeur ruined and defaced, 

By deeds of virtue to themselves secure 

Those inborn joys, that, spite of Kings, endure, 

Though thrones and states from their foundations part; 

The precious balsam of a blameless heart." 

This description of the refugees is part of "The Foresters," a 
poem describing a Pedestrian Journey to the Falls of Niagara 
in the autumn of 1804 by Alexander Wilson, an ornithologist. 

Short notices of the colony and colonists are occasionally found in 
old publications, issued in the -early years of the nineteenth cen- 
tury and even earlier. In "Travels Through the States of North 
America and the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada during 
the years 1795, 1796, 1797," written by an English teacher, Isaac 
Weld and printed by John Stockdale, Piccadilly, London, 1800, 
On page 534 may be found the following description: 

"The whole way between L,ochartzburg* and Wilkesbarre are settle- 
ments on each side of the river, at no great distance from each other. 
The principal one is Frenchtown, situated within a short distance of the 
Falls of Wyalusing on the western side of the river. This town was 
laid out at the expense of several philanthropic persons in Pennsylvania, 
who entered into a subscription for the purpose, as a place of retreat 
for the unfortunate emigrants who fled to America. The town contains 
about fifty log houses, and for the use of the inhabitants a considerable 
tract of land has been purchased adjoining to it, which has been divided 
into farms. The French settled here seem, however, to have no great 
inclination or ability to cultivate the earth, and the greater part of 
them have let their lands at a small yearly rent to Americans, and 
amuse themselves with driving deer, fishing and fowling; they live 
entirely to themselves; they hate the Americans, and the Americans in 
the neighborhood hate and accuse them of being an idle dissipated set. 
The manners of the two people are so very different that it is impossible 
they should ever agree." 

In the Port Folio, Phila., of November 6, 1802, on page 364, 

Bulow, a Prussian military officer, in "Interesting Travels in 

America" 1796, thus describes Asylum, without visiting it as had 

been his evident intention: 

"Higher up on the Eastern branch of the Susquehanna, French emi- 
grants had formed a settlement which they called Asylum. I carefully 
inquired after the condition of this establishment; most of my informers 



*Lochartzburg was a name applied to "Old Tioga Point," now Athens, in 1795. 



88 The Story of Some French Refugees 

• assured me that it was already at an end. But I could not on this 
subject obtain a full certainty. Mr. Noailles and Mr. Talon were the 
founders of this little colony. They sold the land to the colonists. But 
the people say that clearing the land was by no means the talent of 
these French planters who understood much better giving- concert balls 
and plays among themselves. Hunting was said also to be much to 
their taste; they profaned even the Sunday by their hunting parties, 
which especially in the eyes of the New Englanders whose neighbors they 
are (Asylum being situated not far from Wyoming) Tvas an abomination. 
They were likewise for having fine houses all at once." 

In Alexander Graydon's Memoirs, published at Harrisburg, 1811, 
he says, after speakijig of the duke de la Roehef oneault Lianconrt : 

"Froni this gentleman I turn to others of his nation whom he speaks 
of in his travels; and for whose acquaintance I was indebted to Major 
Adanr Hoops, who I should have mentioned before, did me the honor 
to attach himself to my company in the capacity of a volunteer, during 
part of the campaign of 177 6. A letter from him about the year 179 
or 1791 (must have been 1793) so far as my recollection serves, intro- 
duced me to M. Talon then engaged with the Viscount de Noailles in 
establishing a settlement on the north branch of the Susquehanna to 
which they gave the name of Assylum. In the course of this business 
he several times passed through Harrisburg, and never failed giving me 
an opportunity of seeing him. M. Talon fully justified to my conception 
the favorable idea that is given by Lord Chesterfield and others of a 
Frenchman of rank. I have seldom seen a gentleman with whose 
manners I was more pleased. Though he spoke but little English and 
I less French, yet from the knowledge we respectively had of each 
other's language, we contrived to make ourselves mutually understood. 
On one of his visits he was attended by ten or a dozen gentlemen, all 
adventurers in the new establishment from vv^hich they had just returned 
on their way to Philadelphia. Of these I only recollect the names of M. 
de Blacons, Captain Keating and Captain Boileau. My broher and my- 
self, who had waited on them at their inn, were kept to supper, and T 
have rarely passed a more agreeable evening. The refreshment of a 
good meal, coffee and wine, had put in motion the national vivacity, and 
the conversation, carried on in English, which many of the company 
spoke very well, was highly animated. Captain Keating was in fact an 
Irishman and Captain Boileau had served among the troops in this coun- 
try. As to Mons. Blacons, he was but a novice in the language, yet 
hurried away by a high flow of spirits, he ventured boldly in expatiating 
to me on a projected road from Asylum to Philadelphia, which according 
to him, required nothing but the consent of the legislature, to be com- 
pleted out of hand. Talon, astonished at his volubility, exclaimed "ce 
n'est pas lui, c'est le vin que parle." (It is not him, it is the wine that 
talks.) The French Revolution being touched upon, it came into ray 
head to ask Captain Boileau how it happened that he and the other 
gentlemen, who had served in America, and who must, of course, have 
been among the forenaost in inculcating the doctrine of liberty in France, 
were now so entirely in the background? His answer was interriipted 
by a loud and general laugh; and Talon, who had probably been adverse 
to the revolution in all its stages and modifications (as he was the person 
on account of whose courteous reception general Washington had been 
roundly taken to task by the citizen Genet) enjoyed the thing so much 
that he thought it worthy of remembering and put me in mind of it 
long afterwards. The duke de la Rochefoucault gives some particulars 
of the Assylum settlement, humorously called by some of the settlers 
refugium peccatorium (the refuge of sinners). I have understood that 
the settlement is now entirely abandoned by the French, and I have 
been told by persons who have seen the tract, that one more rugged 
and mountainous, except the particular spot whereon the town stands, 
could hardly be found. In this it agrees with Talon's account of it, that 
the mountains were 'trop rapproches,' (too near) thereby conveying the 
idea of a narrow strip of flat land along the river." 



The Story op Some French Refugees 89 

Thomas Twining, in his "Travels in America," Feb. 1796, men- 
tions meeting at Mr. Bingham's in April, 1795, the Count de 
Noailles but gives no comments. 

An Englishman, Mr. Wansey, was a resident of Philadelphia 

when the colony was at its height, and later removed to Bradford 

County. He Avrites, June 8, 1794, that he dined at William 

Bingham's with several celebrities, among them 

"The famous Vicomte cle Noailles, who so distinguished himself in the 
first Constitutional National Assembly, August 4th, 1789. He is now 
engaged in forming a settlement about sixty-fiA^e miles above Northum- 
berland town. It is calle'd 'Asylum' and stands on the eastern branch 
of the Sus-iuehanna. His- lady, the sister of Madam Lafayette, with his 
mother and grandmother, were guillotined without trial by that arch- 
villain Robespierre." 

In 1824 Judge Stevens' wrote for the Doylestown Gazette some 
account of Asylum and its exiles, his "information obtained partly 
from observation and partly from hearsay." His remarks have 
already been incorporated in various places in main narrative. 
Many of his statements, as also many made years later by 
Rev. David Craft, have been found to be inaccurate or absolute!}^ 
untrue in the light of recent investigations. While the various 
records and receipts may be pieced together into a creditable, and 
absolutely authentic story; were it not for the printed accounts 
of those early travelers, very little after all would be known of 
Asyluin ; for the emigres seem to have left no papers, the perma- 
nent settlers told little to their descendants, and very few letters 
have been found. The notable exceptions are Bartholomew La- 
porte, Avho imparted much to his son and grand-daughter which 
has been contradicted by the ignorant; and the d'Autremont 
family, whose traditions and letters are second only in value to the 
information obtained through the papers of John Keating and 
Matthias Hollenback; two wonderful men of business who seem- 
ingly never destroyed a scrap of paper. 

The readjustments of the Asylum Company, made necessary by 
the financial embarassments of its projectors, eventually gave rise 
to the report that the whole project was a gigantic swindling 
scheme, which is certainly far from true. Unfortunately the only 
account found in France is in the volume entitled "A French 
Volunteer in the War of the Revolution." Its author, "the 
Chevalier de Pontigibad, (says his translator) was one of the 
gallant little band of Frenchmen, who, sick for breathing and 
exploit, crossed the Atlantic to aid the American colonists to gain 
their independence. He seems to have been a shrewd observer of 
men and events, and had a keen sense of humor." However, 
these impressions of a youth barely out of his teens were not 



90 The Story op Some French Refugees 




recorded until forty years later; and while he gives vivid pen pic- 
tures, allowance must be made for the inaccuracies of garrulous 
age. His comments concerning Asylum and its founders were 
from observations made during his third visit to America, to 
Mdiich he returned to receive his pay for dual service in the Revo- 
lutionary period. To the student of those times, there is much in 
his book of great interest, and we connnend its reading to mem- 
bers of all patriotic societies. Concerning the French refugees 
and Asylum, he says: 

"Alas, I met in the streets of Philadelphia plenty of great men brought 
down to the dust,- men whose ambition had deceived them, fools pun- 
ished for their folly, men of yesterday, who were no longer men of today, 
and parvenus astonished to tind that Fortune's wheel had not stood still 
while they were uppermost." 

"Duportail (French ex-Minister of War) told me the names of the 
French refugees who had found in Philadelphia an ark of safety like that 
of Noah. 

The blowing up of the good ship, the French Monarchy, had been 
caused by their follies, and the explosion had thrown a g-ood number 
over to the United States. But they were not corrected or disabused of 
their errors, and brought to a better state of mind, but each and all — 
Constitutionalist, Conventionalist, Thermidorians and Fructidorians — im- 
agined that their political downfall had been brought about by some ill 
chance just as their plans were within an ace of succeeding. They kept 
their eyes fixed on France, to which they all expected to return sooner 
or later and recommence what each called his great work, for there were 
exactly the same number of political systems as there were refugees. 
You might have believed yourself in the Elysian Fields, 6th Book of 
Aeneid, where the shades still pursue the same ideas they had cherished 
in the other world. 

But a man must live, and the most curious spectacle was to see these 



The Story of Some French Refugees 91 

Frenchmen, fallen from their former greatness, and now exercising some 
trade or profession. One day I entered a shop to buy some pens and 
paper and found the proprietor to be Moreau de St. Mery — one of the 
famous 'electors' of 1789. 

A good many other personages besides 'the electors of 1789,' and who 
when in France had cut quite another figure, were to be found walking 
about the streets of Philadelphia, as the Vicomte de Noailles, Due de 
L(iancourt) and M. S. (Talon) Volney, the Bishop of Autun, and 'tutti 
quanti.' 

Some of them gambled on the Stock Exchange, and nearly always 
successfully. Others were not so fortunate, and their speculations were 
more risky; nor were they above laying traps for their countrynien who 
had newly arrived in America. 

Senator Morris had conceived a vast and adventurous undertaking. 
The celebrated Burke had written somewhere or other that Europe 
was about to totally collapse, and that North America was destined to 
receive the refugees and all the goods they were able to save. The Sena- 
tor, in company with M. S. (Talon) and Vicomte de Noailles, speculated 
on this prophecy. They acquired more than a million acres, situated on 
the banks of the Susquehannah, and this land, divided into large or small 
lots, was advertised in the papers under the heading of "Good land to be 
sold." Nothing was said about residences — the purchaser was apparently 
to build his house to suit his own taste. To encourage their clients they 
also constructed in the city an immense building in which all the great 
personages they were expecting on the faith of Edmund Burke could be 
suitably lodged. The Pope, the Sacred College, a few dethroned Mon- 
archs, and other notables, were to rest there till they had recovered from 
the effects of their sea voyage, and before making up their minds to pur- 
chase a slice of American territory. 

It is literally true that this enterprising company had agents on the 
lookout for all emigrants who arrived from Europe. Their factotums 
kept a watchful eye on all newly-landed passengers, who appeared to 
have some baggage, and not only compassioned their misfortunes, but 
offered them the means of repairing their loss, by the purchase, in a 
new and hospitable land, of another estate of dimensions proportionate 
to the means of each newcomer. The price was reasonable enough, only 
six francs an acre — but the agent did not say that it had cost the Com- 
pany he represented only fifteen cents an acre. 

I knew a milliner who had made some money, and who purchased an 
estate at Asylum, the fictitious capital of this imaginary colony. The 
poor dupe went to inspect the estate she had bought the right to build 
on, cultivate, and live upon — and then she came back to Philadelphia 
to gain her living with her ten fingers as she had previously done. 

One of these agents was ill-advised enough to apply to me, having 
heard I was a French emigre, possessing some money. He started at 
once with a long discourse on the principles of humanity which animated 
this enterprise, and then went on to boast — "All materials are at hand, 
and everything has been provided. There is a master builder paid by the 
Company. We have even a restaurant in order to spare trouble to our 
newly-arrived colonists." He strongly urged me to buy five hundred 
acres of this new Promised Land for the moderate sum of 1000 crowns. 
When he finished I told him that two hundred acres of that land would 
not support a cow, that there was not a store in the whole country, and 
that no meat was to be found unless you killed a deer. I added that 
as I had been all through the War of Independence, I knew all about 
the district he had been describing, and that his boasted philanthropic 
speculation was a mockery and a snare, and that the worst misfortune 
which could befall the French emigres was to find themselves swindled 
by their own countrymen. I have never seen a man look more discon- 
certed than this unlucky agent did, but I should like to have seen the 
speculative triumvirate when their clumsy emissary rendered an account 
of his visit — I had the honor to be known by them. 

Providence, however, did not permit the enterprise to succeed, and 
the three speculators came to a bad end. Senator Morris, crippled with 



92 The Story of Some French Refugees 



debts, died in prison; M. T(alon) went mad, and Vicomte de Noailles, 
after having won four or five hundred thousand francs on the Philadel- 
phia Exchange, left for SanDoniingo, where he was killed on board an 
English cruiser. He, at least, died like a brave man, as he had lived; 
that much praise is due to his memory, but that does not prevent me 
from relating a story concerning him which is a proof the more of the 
inconsistency displayed by some of our illustrious faiseurs during the 
Revolution. The incident occurred under my own eyes, and I laughed 
heartily at it, as everybody else did. 

This ex-Vicomte had a deed drawn up at Philadelphia by one of the 
notaries of the city, and when it was read over to him, he perceived 
that he was mentioned therein by the name of M. de Noailles. He was 
exceedingly angry at this, and insisted that the deed should be re-written 
and none of his titles forgotten — Vicomte, Knight of Saint Louis, Knight 
of Malta, etc. The next day, the newspapers were impertinent enough 
to repeat — con licenza superior! — what had passed in the office, and 
all Philadelphia knew of the quarrel of the Vicomte with his notary. 
The story was accompanied with a note to this effect: "It is singular 
that a member of the Constitutional Assembly, who proposed the law 
of ci-divants — a French nobleman who, on the famous night of 4th 
August ma.de a holacaust of the titles, deeds, armorial bearings, etc., 
of all the nobility, commencing with his own — should ins'st on these 
titles being applied to him in a land of political equality, where all dis- 
tinctions are unknown." 

Soon after its publication, the first edition of "Azilum" attract- 
ed tlie attention of one of the foremost noblemen of modern 
France, the present Vicomte de Noailles, grandson of the founder 
of Asylum. A copy having been sent to him, we take the liberty 
to quote from the letter prompted by reading the story : 

"The book on Azylum has given me great pleasure, and occupies 
already an honorable place in my library. It is very well written and 
treats of a question totally unknown in France. The events of the 
Revolution did not permit contemporaries to occupy themselves with 
remote affairs, of a secondary nature compared with those of the metrop- 
olis. Later they did not think of them, so that I doubt if there were 
many men who knew of these efforts of colonization of which you speak 
with so much precision. I doubt if it entered in^o the idea of the found- 
ers to take thither the sorrowing members of the royal family, or even 
of the queen alone. But while that idea would have been strange from 
many points of view, it is possible that, in a generous burst of zeal, they 
had such an idea. I believe after what I have read of it, that you would 
do well to challenge the memoirs of Pontigibaud, ardent royalist, critical 
spirit and wagtail, given to making bon mots, and all that to the detri- 
ment of truth. He presents the enterprise in a doubtful light and known 
as a dishonest speculation to the injury of those recently landed. An 
enterprise costs dear to set going. That they sold for a certain price 
lands bought for less, and engaged the newly arrived to settle themselves 
in colonies are natural things which explain themselves, but which under 
the pen of a critic take another aspect. It would also seem that 
Vicomte de Noailles made a fortune in America. It was necessary to 
live and he set himself courageously at the task. His heirs received 
nothing of that which he may have had. I do not believe that you will 
find anything whatever in France on the founding of Asylum; I have 
never heard it mentioned. I regret that I could not have sent you a 
better engraving of the Vicomte de N. It is the only one known to me." 

In conclusion the Vicomte graciously sent a work of his own 

which was awarded a prize by L'Academie Francaise. This book 

is entitled "French Sailors and Soldiers in America during the 

War of Independence of the United States."* 

*The title speaks for itself, but in this year of 1917, we feel that it is of special value 



The Story of Some French Refugees 93 

A few years since a notable series of historical books were pub- 
lished in France from the hands Of various writers. The object, 
in the light of modern research, was readable history that should 
be accurate, or as it was put : History, not Legend. The author 
of some of these delightful books, M. Joseph Turquan, of Paris, 
wishing to publish a volume on "The Women of the Emigration," 
applied to the author of "Azilum" for information. It was our 
pleasure to furnish some data and illustrations and also to direct 
M. Turquan to Charles d'Autremont, Jr., from whom he obtained 
letters and portraits, of which he made the best use. The portrait 
of Mme. d'Autremont adorns the cover of his second volume, and 
the plate of the Queen's House is included in the narrative with 
such other matter as was desirable. Mr. Turquan accepted the 
disputed fact that the colony was intended for a refuge for 
Marie Antoinette, and has written of the whole in a delightful 
manner, from which we quote in another chapter. 

There are also various sketches of the colony published within 
the last quarter century of more or less value, and some interest- 
ing suggestions have been made by various writers, as for instance, 
that of Professor Harper of Princeton that the settlement at 
Asylum may have suggested to Coleridge and Southey their pro- 
ject of establishing a colony in America on the banks of the Sus- 
quehanna. True, Coleridge had met in London in September, 
1794, a former schoolmate, who was agent for an American land 
company and praised the region of the Susquehanna; But, as 
Prof. Harper suggests, it is almost certain that they saw the fol- 
lowing notice in the Gentleman' s Magazine for Jiuie, 1795 quite 
enough to inflame their imagination: 

"There is a colony established not far from the Susquehanna River, 
in America, by a class of wealthy Frenchmen, who formerly distinguished 
themselves in the Constituent Assembly of France, but were prudent 
enough to retire in time with their families and property; among these 
are Noailles, Talon, Blacon, Talleyrand, and others of the ci-devant 
Noblesse: they have relinquished their titles, and have domesticated 
here in the most social manner. Their little settlement is called French 
Town. The tavern is kept by an officer, who was formerly le Baron 
Beaulieu!" 

It is needless to say that French Town and Asylum were one 
and the same. 



and interest to all patriotic Americans. We are wont to elevate Lafayette to the pinnacle 
of honor, but it is high time, when again our hearts beat in unison with France, to study 
the lives cf all those heroes who came to our assistance. AVe can not resist the desire 
to introduce here the sentimejit of Washington, to whom at the close of the war, "the 
French officers of land and sea paid their court, going in small groups to visit him, and 
to fraternize with their American conu-ades." After one ot their visits, Washington said 
to some of the others who came: "I have been very happy In the three days that I have 
spent with de Chastellux, de Noailles, de Damas and nay old acquaintance Duplaessis. I 
find in these gentlemen all that commands my respect." 

He further expressed his sentiments in several letters to Rochambeau on the with- 
drawal of the French army, from which ^ve repeat the most telling sentence: "To the gen- 
erous aid of your nation, and to the bravery of her troops, may be attributed in a very 
great decree, tlxat independence for which we liave fought, and which we have obtained 
after a severe canfliot of more than seven years." 



94 The Story of Some French Refugees 



CHAPTER V 

Biographies of Founders and Permanent Settlers 
at Asylum 

So mucli has been gathered here and there concerning the most 
famous founders of Asjdum, that it was decided to record the ad- 
ditional data here rather than in the main narrative. Even 
the best French biographical dictionaries have not done full 
justice to Talon, de Noailles or Dupetithouar. "We have in addition 
the recorded sentiments of their American friends and of their de- 
scendants in some particulars. 

Talon 

Talon and John Keating were so intimate that much has been 
gleaned from the Keating journals and papers. Among these were 
found letters from M. de Sarennes, an old man, who had known 
the Talon family through several generations. While Omer was a 
name borne by the ancestors of the family who became celebrated 
for loyalty and patriotism in the time of Louis XIV, Antoine 
Omer was the son of John Talon (an advocate and disburser of pub- 
lic revenues) and of Maria Charlotte Radix. At sixteen years of 
age, he was accepted as an advocate and became Kings Advocate 
the following year, Counsellor of Inquiry in 1781 and Civil Lieu- 
tenant an Chatelet in 1789 with an apportionment of 100,000 
francs. The situation of public affairs was grave. The first proceed- 
ing he was called upon to conduct was against the authors of the 
insurrection of October 5th, and the suit against Favras made him 
a depository of important secrets. Later he was denounced as an 
unjust judge by two prominent writers, who were sentenced to re- 
tract this libel publicly also to pay a fine of 1200 livres. Mirabeau 
became his bitter enemy, and indulged in brutal invective against 
him. We have already noted his devotion to the King and its con- 
sequences, but here is a new bit from Gray don, his Harrisburg ac- 
quaintance : 

"This gentleman had apparently stood very high in the confidence of 
the King-, as once when I dined with him at his lodgings, at the instance 
of a French lady present, who had observed I was unaffected with the 
regicide mania, he showed me a box studded with diamonds with the 
King's picture on the lid, that had been presented to him by his majesty, 
as the inscription imported. The affairs of France were not often touched 
upon by Mr. Talon, but it was impossible not to advert to them at times. 



The Story of Some French Sepugees 95 

and he testified much concern foi' the death of the murdered Malesherbes, 
one of the counsel for the King, speaking of him as 'un gallant homme.' 
Talon was understood to have been in the law line himself, Avocat 
General under the old regime. If this was the fact, the office was ap- 
parently hereditary in his family through royal favor, as one of the 
same name is spoken of by Cardinal de Retz (of the Court of Louis 
XIV) in the following very honorable manner, and the more so from 
his being in the opposite party, and a'foe to his seditious designs: 'Talon, 
Avocat General, made one of the finest speeches that ever has been 
made on a like subject, I never heard or read anything more eloquent. 
He mixt with his reasons whatever could serve to make them the more 
moving. He invoked the names of Henry the Great, and kneeling down, 
he called upon St. Louis to protect the Kingdom of France. You fancy 
perhaps you would have laughed at this spectacle, but it would have 
moved you as it did the whole company, upon whom it worked in such 
a manner that the clamor of the inquiries began to decrease by it." 
Graydon says that he records this incident "because it places in so aimi- 
able a light the virtue of patriotism and the irresistible eloquence which 
may flow from that source." 

To the reader, of this volume it has a double interest, por- 
traying not only the character of Talon's ancestors, but revealing 
to us, in this year of 1917, the true French spirit and eloquence 
borne in upon us by the glowing words of Viviani and Joffre who 
have come to America to renew the bond between the two coun- 
tries, that was first sealed by Lafayette, de Noaille's, Rochambeau 
and their associates. 

Talon was a "large portly, fine looking man" when at Asylum. 
His portrait, as reproduced, was copied from a much defaced 
miniature on ivory, which represents him wrapped in a red toga. 
M. de Sarennes relates of his family that one of his sisters sur- 
passed in beauty all the women of the several courts where her 
husband was sent as ambassador. 

De Villaines, his brother-in-law, a distinguished French officer, 
was wdth Talon at Asylum for a time. M. de Sarennes says : 

"Talon wished to form a colony in America and needed an estate and 
a convenient situation. It was necessary to make some explorations, 
and he had for company old comrades of his and of M. de Sarennes: 
Messre. d'Andelot and de Villaines; thej^ were both great and stirring, 
and therefore equal to the task. About this time Talon became con- 
nected with de Noailles and de Blacons. He entered by marriage the 
family of de Pestre, whose origin was Belgium. The head of the family 
was banker for the court of Austria. Through him, Talon became pos- 
sessed of much property in Belgium. By his wife (by name Jeanne- 
Agnes Gabrielle, Countess of Pestre) he had two children, Denis- 
Mathieu Claire, b. 1783, d. 1853, and Zoe Victoire, b. 1785, m. 1802 
Count de Cayla, d. 1852. On Talon's return to France, Mnie. Talon had 
suffered and died. Talon begged his sister to take charge of his daugh- 
ter. She was placed in the boarding school where all the nobility 
placed their children. Mme. de Villaines took me there ^vith her to see 
a little play in which Hortensede Beauharnais, of the family of Napoleon 
First, had a role. Talon was not favored by Napoleon who, on a simple 
denunciation, sent him into exile in Provence; his son accompanied him 
and shared his captivity." — Sarennes. 



96 The Story op Some French Refugees 

His French biographer says: 

"On his return from America he lived on one of his estates, Tournan, 
and being still master of a considerable fortune, he committed the folly 
of displaying- a luxury, but little conformed to his position. It was dis- 
covered that he was the medium of a correspondence between the royal 
princes and their adherents in the interior; and being arrested in 1804, 
he was transported to the Isles of St. Marguerite and did not again obtain 
his liberty until 1807. The privatiens which he underwent during his 
captivity so enfeebled his mental powers, that henceforth he did but 
languish in a sort of premature senility." 

Judge Stevens says : 

"He was heard of after leaving Asylum as a banker in Germany, 
and since that, as a conspirator against the life of Bonaparte, he 
was banished, but afterwards obtained leave of the Emperor to 
visit his daughter in Paris, where he ended his days by natural 
death Aug. 18, 1811." His daughter, as the Countess de Cayla, 
became one of the celebrated women of France. Separated from 
her husband, after many vicissitudes, she finally devoted herself 
to her taste for agricultural improvements in her charming retreat 
at St. Ouen (where Louis XVIII had granted the charter of 1814) 
and it was there she died in 1852. Talon's son was a well known 
officer in the French army. We have never succeeding in com- 
municating with his descendants, although an effort was made in 
1872 through Marquis Emmanuel de Noailles, then French ambas- 
sador to this country. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 97 



De Noailles 

Louis Marie, Yicomte de Noailles, doubtless the originator of the 
Asylum plan, had such an illustrious career, that it is here given in 
full as an inspiration to the youth of today. It has been said of his 
ancestry, " they were for four hundred years the proudest family 
of France outside of royalty. ' ' The ancestral home was the Hotel 
de Noailles in Paris. Today the Rue de Rivoli runs through the 
site of the gardens, when Lafayette a mere school boy, played with 
the de Noailles cMldren ; to one of whom he lost his heart, and to 
whom he was married while they were still children, he sixteen and 
Adrienne fourteen. There are many reasons vAiy American women 
today should be interested in the name de Noailles, for the wife of 
Lafayette was knoAvn in later life as "the loyal uncompromising 
champion of American liberty." When she was only eighteen, 
Lafayette, stationed at Metz, heard of the struggles of our colonies 
and stayed not on the order of his going to even say farewell. The 
woman of 1917 parting with her loved one may well remember the 
"untold anguish" of Madame de Lafayette during the fifty-six- 
day voyage that brought Lafayette first to America, and during 
the ensuing campaigns when news traveled so slowly that she first 
heard he was wounded in the streets of Paris. 

Possibly it was in this ancestral home that Louis de Noailles 
was born, April,. 1756, for it was in Paris. He was the second 
son of Phillipe de Noailles, Marechal of France, and Duke de 
Mouchy. His mother, Mie. d'Arpajon was first lady of honor 
to Marie Antoinette, by reason of her rank. From his youth 
up he followed the profession of arms, and w^as remarkable for 
the knowledge which he speedily acquired of everything pertain- 
ing to military tactics. He organized several regiments of 
which he was successively the head; and in the instruction 
of both officers and soldiers, he attained a degree of perfection 
unsurpassed at that time, and was considered one of the best 
colonels of his period. Intimate with both Lafayette and de 
Segur, they were one in forming the project of starting for 
America; but their parents, having discovered their plans, en- 
deavored to prevent them because of their youth, for they were all 
about twenty years old. It has been said that Lafayette alone had 
will and independence enough, thanks to his fortune, "to carry out 
what was really his own generous project." That may be; but 
when Admiral d'Estaing, who headed the first expedition, sent to 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



assist the revolted provinces in 1778, proceeded from American 
shores to the French possessions in the Antilles, he found de 
Noailles already on the Island of Trinity, iiis zeal having carried 
him there from France in advance of the fleet. d'Estaing A\a'ote that 
when he first saw him he thought it was an illusion. But no, the 
clever young colonel was ready with news of all the movements of 
the French and English and awaited orders ! de Noailles was very 
active throughout the whole Antilles campaign, accoiuits of which 
may be found in the most interesting volume written by his grand- 
son of the sailors and soldiers of France in America. 

His clever manouvers with considerable bodies of troops, at- 
tracted the attention even of the enemy, who could not dislodge 
him. He was praised again and again for his ability, activity and 
courage, won the cross of St. Louis and the rank of brigadier gen- 
eral. "Such is the love of M. de Noailles for war, for his profes- 
sion, that it pleases me to foresee and I dare to predict that he will 
go to the highest limit." So spoke his superior officer to the Min- 
ister of War. 

Noailles began service under the name of the Chevalier d'Arpa- 
jon, rose through successive ranks to be Colonel-General of the 
regiment of Soissonais, and after having made the campaign of 
the Antilles, he returned to America with the army of Rocham- 
beau. Then he was only twenty-four years old. "He made with 
this rank the expedition of America" and several times had chief 
command of the work on the trenches before Yorktown. Washing- 
ton many times praised his intelligence and courage (recorded in 
histories and biographies) and finally honored him by entrusting 
him, in connection with other French officers, with arranging the 
terms of capitulation and surrender of Cornwallis, signed at Moore 
House. Returning to France, he was at once appointed mestre 
de camp, and lieutenant commander of the regiment of the King's 
dragoons'. At this time he was described as "possessing a hand- 
some figure and fine physicjue, young active, enterprising, of re- 
markable bravery, chivalrous, a soldier in his very heart, a lover 
of glory, a patriot in every sense of the word." From the Recol- 
lections of Samuel Breck, an American whose life was spent in 
Boston, Philadelphia and France, where his father was in intimate 
touch Avith all the French notables, we have some persional 
reminiscences that add much to the interest of our narrative. He 
says: "Most distinctly do I recollect his coming to Boston to em- 
bark for France after YorktOAvn, and his answer to my childish 
question about the fate of Cornwallis after the surrender, saying 



The Story of Some French Refugees 90 

he had carried him off behind him on horseback. His form was 
perfect, a fine face, tall, graceful, possessed of very pleasing man- 
ners, he was a general favorite in court circles. He was known as 
the first amateur dancer of the age in Paris, and at the court 
balls he was frequently the partner of Queen Marie Antoinette." 
It is easily seen that this personal intimacy, and the devotion of his 
parents as well, made the young officer ever loyal to the Royal 
family, in spite of the fact that he had conceived in America so 
great an enthusiasm for liberty and equality that, on re-entering 
France, he took up with eagerness the cause of the French people. 
This chapter of his life is excellently well told at length in 
Michaude'S and Hoeffer's Biographies, and in these days well 
worth the reading, proving that Lafayette had too great a share of 
honors. It has been said: 

"De Noailles returned to Prance imbued with the ideas of liberty and 
very enthusiastic in the American cause in imitation of his brother-in- 
law Lafayette, but, between the two men there appeared a curious 
divergence; Noailles at the beginning of the revolutionary era, accepted 
the new idea as the result of an inevitable progress. He followed the 
movement which he thought impossible to stop, and resigned himself 
to it. Lafayette, on the contrary, believed in the necessity of the move- 
ment, lent to it all the strength of his influence, but lived in the illusion 
of better times, and was 1 eft behind by the march of events." — de 
Noailles, 1903. 

De Noailles and his parents were at the Queen's side in time of 
danger whenever possible, and he tried to keep the King posted, 
and carried to him the news of the fall of the Bastile. In the at- 
tack of the mob at the time of the "Joyous Entry," the Queen 
suddenly found herself separated from her escort ; but at the door 
of her carriage were de Noailles and the Due • d 'Aguillon ready 
to protect her at the peril of their lives. De Noailles took her in 
his arms and aided by Aguillon, carried her to a place of safety. 
Yet these were the two men who stood for the abolishment of 
feudal rights, bringing odium on themselves from the wealthier 
nobles. 

Balch says of him at this period: "It was the gallant nobleman 
de Noailles, who, from a pure love of liberty and equality moved in 
the National Assembly the abrogation of titles and hereditary no- 
bility." 

We have neglected to record that de Noailles married (date un- 
known) his cousin Louise, daughter of the Duke de Noailles and 
sister of Madame Lafayette. They had several children, one of the 
sons. Count Alexis, and a daughter who married the Marquis de 
Verac surviving him. We give for this epoch the story of his life 
as well told by his sister-in-law, in her interesting memoirs en- 
titled Ajine Paul-Dominique de Noailles, Marquise de Montagu, 



100 The Story of Some French Refugees 

published by the Duke de Noailles at Paris, 1868, also extracts 
from Balch, copied from her Memoirs: 

"The Viscount de Noailles, considered one of the best officers of his 
• time, who had followed LaFayette, his brother-in-law, to America dur- 
ing the War of Independence; who much sniitten with the ideas of 1789, 
had sat in the Coiistitutional Assembly beside Maury, Barnave and Mira- 
beau; who, in the famous night of the 4th of August, taking the initia- 
tive of the three propositions, indespensable basis of the great reforms, 
then in every mind, the equal distribution of all taxation among all 
Frenchmen, the abolition by purchase of feudal right, and the abolition 
without purchase of the corvees and personal servitude, had given the 
signal for the en<lhusiasm with which in that same sitting the nobility 
and the clergy despoiled themse'lves iso generously a.nd so patriotically of 
their nig'hts and privileges. "Thou," said Chateaubriand, "who criest out 
today against the nobility, forget it was de Noailles, the feudal deputy, 
who moved to abolish feudal rights. As the old France owed its glory to 
the feudal nobility, so the New France oweth its liberty, if there is Ulierty 
for France. ' ' 

"This same Viscount de Noailles was none the less an emigre, like the 
others. ' ' 

'"When war was de'clared in April, 1792, he commanded under Lafay- 
ette a briga^de in the advance guard during the first invasion of Bel- 
gium, and he found himself surrounded in the flight of the trooips, which- 
took place with the cry of "Treaichery!' and amid which General Theo- 
hald Dillon was massacred, and he himself was obliged to seek a refuge 
beyond the frontier, where he was immediately declared an emigre and 
proscribed. 

"He went first to England, then to America, where he entered with 
success into the commercial operations of the house of Bingham, and 
Lived in Philadelphia ten years. Toward the close of 1800 Madame de 
Montagu succeeded in having his name struck off the list of emigres. 
He was also reinstated in military rank, for he wrote to his son Alexis: 
"I have not yet received confirmation of rank of active brigadier general, 
which poisition I have filled for eight months. I desire that my com- 
mission be'ars the date of the capture of iFort iDauphin-" His return to 
France was retarded by a long lawsuit, where he argued his case him- 
self in English before the American courts. iSo well did he speak that 
Language, of which we will see the importance to ihim later, that he won 
his suit, amid univers^al applause. But the ensuing obligations forced 
him to go to Saint Domingo, where our possessions had fallen into the 
power of the negroes, and which the Frenc'h army was trying to re- 
conquer. This wais in 1803. 

"He found this army destroyed by yellow fever, and its remains 
attacked on one side by the negroes, on the other by the British squad- 
rons. 'Rochambeiau ~wa,s in command. Noailles devotedly put himself 
at the disposition of his old comrade in arms, and, amongst other deeds, 
helped materially in the capture of Fort Dauphin. 

"'Rocham'beau gave him comimand of the Mole Saint Nicholas, whose 
g'arrison, reduced to eighteen hundred men, was besieged by twenty 
thousand blacks and a British squadron. He defended himself there 
for five months. But Rochambeau was at length forced to surrender 
witli his negroes. He was going to retire with his troops on neutral 
vessels, hut the English fleet surrounded these sliips, forced them to sur- 
render, and prepared to take them to Europe. The commander of the 
squ'adron which was blockading Mole 'Saint Nicholas informed General 
de Noailles of these events, asking him to cease a useless resiistance. 

" 'A French general,' he answered, 'cannot surrender without shame 
as long as he has supplies, ammunition and devoted soldiers. France, 
like England, has fleets on the ocean. I will wait.' 

"This answer hid his intrepid project of escaping with Ms entire force 



The Story op Some French Refugees 101 



from the hostile fleets. Informed that the convoy which took with it 
the ships <ot iRochambeau was to pass three days later ibefore the Mole 
during- the night, he prepared his men, and on seven ships which were 
in the ports, mounted Ms soldiersi, his cannon, his aViimunition, with 
some inhabitants of the Mole and waited in silence the passing- of the 
convoy. 

"When tiie ships' lights appeared the order for departure was given, 
and during a dark night seven ships, profiting by the confusion of the 
passage and d'eceiving a blockading squadron joined the convoy. 
No'ailles led, and speaking English perfectly, answered himself all the 
hails from the nearer ships. ILittle by little h© drewf away with his 
ships, and spread all sail at dawn, and althioug-h the English then dis- 
covered what had happened, and sailed after him, he reaiched success- 
fuly, with his seven ships, Baraooa, a port in the Island of Cuba. He 
landed there the inhabitants of the Mole, as w^ell as his troops, of -whom 
he sent som'e back to Fr'ance and keipt the otlhers, intending to lead 
them to Havana, where General Lafayette was in comnaand. 

"He chartered for this purpose three small vessels, g'ot as escort the 
war schooner the 'Courrier,' and sailed himself on this schooner, which 
was only armed with four guns, with his staff and a company of grena- 
diers of the 34th half brig'ade. Eour days afterwards, on the 31st of 
December, ISO'S, off the Great Niuevita, he met at dusk an English 
corvette, the 'Hazard,' of seven guns, which hailed hiim. He hastened 
to raise the English colors, and answered in such g-ood English that 
the comniiander of the corvette informed him that he was in search of 
a French hoat carrying General de 'Noailles. 'I have pre;cisely the same 
mission,' he answered and beg-an to sail with the corvette. Then when 
the night became dark, he proposed to his soldiers to board the English 
vessel. The proposal being received with delight. Lieutenant Deshayes, 
who was commanding' the 'Co'Urrier,' sailed it so as to ^bring it all of a 
sudden along-side the -corvette. The shock ^vas so violent that the stem 
of the 'Oourrier was broken. The English, surprised, rushed to arms; 
but de Noailles dashed with his grenadiers on to their deck and after a 
terrible combat, the corvette-, which had lost half its crew, surrendered. 

"Unfortunately, at the end -of the hattle, an enemy's bullet struck the 
heroic descendant of a race of warriors-, of whoim he had sho^wed himself 
so worthy; and on the morrow, on hoard of his prize, but mortally 
wounded, aaid towing the '-Oourrier,' half bro-ken to pieces, he entered 
gloriously -Havana." 

He survived this triumph, alas! only six clays. Rochambeaii 
wrote ill his Memoirs : 

"He was attacked by an English vessel which he boarded with the 
intrepedity natural to him, supported by his brave grenadiers. He was 
mortally wounded, and died a few days afterward in the arms of his 
troops and of the Spaniards who bestowed upon him all the regrets and 
esteem with which his courage had inspired them." 

His death occurred January 5, 1804. He was buried at Havana. 
But hisi heart was enclosed in a silver box by his devoted grena- 
diers who fastened it to their standard and brought it back to 
France, whose portals the valiant Frenchman had wished that 
glory might reopen to him. For a long time that heart was depos- 
ited in the church of Poix (Somme), but now is actually in that 
of de Noailles (Correze) by the side of the old tombs of the fam- 
ily. His brilliant feat of arms at the Mole was painted by Guden 



102 The Story op Some French Refugees 

in one of his best pictures, de Noailles portrayed as the heroic 
descendant of a race of warriors. 

Yet there was another side of this hero, and many pages of his 
life never pictured for France until very recent years. So we will 
retrace our steps and consider the valiant soldier as a peaceful 
citizen of Philadelphia for ten or eleven years, weaving together 
the narratives of Breck, Balcli and others who knew him or knew 
of him, without crediting the quotations to each. 

He had secured, before coming, a small fragment of his fortune, 
when the Revolution made a wreck of every one's property, with 
which in Philadelphia, he became a trader and a speculator. Some 
of the time, however, he was quite poor. For awhile he boarded 
with the Rev. William Marshall of the Scotch Presbyterian church 
on the north side of Walnut street above Fourth. Again he lived 
in the third story of a small house in the rear of William Bing- 
ham's stately mansion, on a lot extending from Third to Fourth 
streets opposite St. Mary's church. Entrance to this house was 
from Bingham's court off Spruce street below Fourth. City Di- 
rectory of 1795 gives Louis de Noailles, French General, south side 
of Spruce St., 118, near Delaware. Breck tells of passing his 
lodgings in 1793 when de Noailles, standing at the door, called to 
him and told him to flee the town as pestilence (yellow fever) was 
all around. While he went to Asylum for a week or two at this 
time, evidently he withstood the plague and ministered unto 
others. 

De Noailles was always upon terms of familiar friendship with 
Breck 's family and also w^ith some others in America. For it was 
recently related to the author that when his descendants visited 
America on the centennial of Yorktown, some military trappings 
were given to them that de Noailles had presented to an American 
family when returning to France after Yorktown, their only heir- 
looms of this heroic ancestor. Socially he was a favorite in society 
because of his rank, his reputation as a soldier, and for his attract- 
ive personality. 

But it was as a business man that he attracted most attention. 
''It was necessary for him to live and he set himself bravely at 
the task." Breck says: 

"Poor Noailles danced rarely in Philadelphia, but he sometimes showed 
us his graceful steps. On one occasion when teaching the Misses Bing- 
ham lofty capers, he sprained his ankle and became lame ever after." 

"It was amusing to see the spirit with which he embraced his new 
avocation, so foreign from the pursuits of his former life, whether con- 
sidered as a military man or a courtier. Every day at the coffee house 
or exchange, where the merchants met, that ex-nobleman was the busiest 



The Story of Some French Refugees 103 

of the busy, holding- his bank-booPc in one hand and a broker or mer- 
chant with the other, while he drove his bargains as earnestly as any 
regular bred son of a counting house." 

It is said he was admitted to the bar, but diligent search reveals 
no such record, nor the one mentioned by Pontgibaud as being 
recorded in a newspaper of 1793. Publication of newspapers was 
suspended during the yellow fever epidemic. There are preserved 
in Philadelphia and elsewhere a few letters relating entirely to 
business. 

Perhaps the excitement of sjjeculation was a panacea for his 
sorrows, for in 1794 his wife was accused of being connected with 
a conspiracy and was guillotined, as were also his father and 
mother. Madame Lafayette was saved by the intervention of 
an American w^oman, wife of our ambassador to France, James; 
Monroe. In 1796 a letter to his bankers mentions that he was 
leaving town for some months, but we have no other record of his 
journey. While Pontgibaud treats him lightly, Keating, who 
knew him well, said that his whole life was distinguished by integ- 
rity, honor, refined manners and unaffected piety. Surely this 
man deserves to be remembered by America with a statue or some 
fitting memorial. 



104 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



:.:.'/S?^r 




John Keating 




The Story of Some French Refugees 105 



Keating 

came of an Irish family 
originally of English extrac- 
tion. Henry, the first of 
the name in the family rec- 
ord, lived within the so- 
called English Pale in the 
Fourteenth century. His 
descendants were summoned to Parliament as barons of the 
realm and suffered on account of their religion first during the 
reign of Elizabeth, and again at the hands of Cromwell, by whom 
they were deprived of their possessions. James Keating, a second 
son in the line of decent, who lived in the Fifteenth century, was 
Grand Prior of the Order of Malta and one of the thirteen Broth- 
ers of St. George, an English Order of Chivalry instituted in aid 
of the House of York during the wars of the Roses. Geoffrey 
Keating, who lived in the Sixteenth century, was the well-known 
historian of Ireland. Another Geoffrey was captain in the Irish 
army at the battle of Aughrim and siege of Limerick in 1691, and 
after the capitulation, croissed to France with his regiment, which 
then took the name of the Queen's Regiment and formed part of 
the celebrated Irish Brigade, serving under Catinat in Italy in 
the wars of Louis XIV. He then returned to Ireland whence his 
son Valentine emigrated to France in 1766 to escape persecution 
due to the oppressive laws of England against Catholics, Upon 
his arrival at St. Germain, letters patent of nobility were granted 
A^alentine by Louis XV in recognition of his rank in Ireland. 

John, the son of Valentine, and tenth in descent from the original 
Henry, was one of five brothers, four of whom entered the French 
service, and were officers in the regiment Walsh-Serrant of the 
Irish Brigade. The batallion to wliich John and two of his broth- 
ers belonged was sent to Martinique in 1780 under Ct. de Guichen. 
Thomas, the eldest, took part in three engagements with Admiral 
Rodney, and John, in the capture of Tabago. Thomas subse- 
quently rose to the rank of major-general, commanding an army 
corps in Belgium, which saw active iservice under the French Re- 
public. He was imprisoned by Robespierre, and died from the 
effects of his ill treatment. Both he and his brother William were 
awarded the cross of St. Louis for meritorious services. Thomas 
was subsequently, in 1792, upon recommendation of King Louis 



106 The Story op Some French Refugees 

XVI admitted, in company Avith otlier French officers', to the order 
of Cincinnati, jjresumably on account of his participation in the 
canxpaign in America. While in Martinique in 1781, John took 
part in a secret expedition destined, as it was supposed, for the 
United States, but while on their way up the coast, they were met 
by a sloop of war sent by Ct. de Grasse to inform them of the 
surrender of Cornwallis, whereupon the course was changed and 
the fleet headed for the island of St. Eustaeius, which had just 
been captured by the English from the Dutch. This they stormed 
with brilliant success, against great odds, capturing the com- 
mander and his entire force. 

The regiment returned to France in 1783, was sent to the island 
of Mauritius in 1788, and again visiting Martinique on its way 
home, (where John was presented to the future Empress Jose- 
phine) was finally ordered to San Domingo in 1792, and there 
John was placed in temporary command. There being then but 
little prospect of the restoration of the Bourbons, he resigned his 
commission and came to this country, having previously been hon- 
ored with the military decoration in recognition of his services. 
His journal, already quoted, recounts his arrival in Philadelphia 
with but $280 in his pocket, and provided with two letters, one 
from the civil government of San Domingo to the French Consul 
at Philadelphia, and the other from General Rochambeau, then 
Military Governor of San Domingo, to General Washington. It 
also relates his subsequent connection with Asylum.* After the 
abandonment of that colony he became associated with de Noailles 
in another land transaction which furnishes an incident of some 
little interest. His brother AVilliam was living with his family 
in the Isle of France, and viewing the situation in the French de- 
pendencies as precarious owing to the French Revolution, deter- 
mined to send his eldest son Jerome, then a child, over to John 
for his education, and also to remit funds for investment not only 
for the better securing of the same, but to provide alike for his 
son's future welfare. De Noailles told John Keating that hisi 
friend, Mr. Nicholson, former Controller General of Pennsylvania, 
had an agent in Mauritius who had power to draw upon him, and 
Nicholson on being consulted promised to honor any drafts that 
might be drawn upon him in this way. Accordingly William Keat- 
ing purchased a draft of $2,163.00 but neglected for some reason 



'"Very recently a box of old letter books of John Keating has been discovered. One 
of these shows that he acted as agent for Asylum lands for ten years, Miien he put in a 
claim for unpaid salary. He o'\\Tied many shares until 1820, but, like Hollenback ne^-er 
had a satisfactory settlement. There are frequent letters to Laporte to whom he gave 
power of attorney, although he visited Asylum in 1819, making thence a three week 
journey exploring lands. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 107 

or other to inform John Keating of it or to forward it to him for 
collection. In the meantime Nicholson who was interested in large 
speculations with Robert Morris found himself in financial diffi- 
culties and when the draft was presented was unable to meet it 
though promising to do so. He had business relations with de 
Noailles, however, who had advanced him money, and it was ar- 
ranged between them that Noailles was to increase his advance 
to him, to assume the Keating draft and accept in payment either 
certain lands in Tennessee or shares of the Asylum Company at 
his option. Nicholson and Morris at this time were in such straits 
that they were obliged to shut themselves off from their creditors 
by occupying a little house on the Schu^dkill River. Hither John 
Keating journeyed almost every day in arranging all the particu- 
lars of the transaction. Noailles decided in favor of the Tennessee 
lands and gave Keating his personal bond in exchange for the 
draft. He also engaged Keating to go to Tennessee to record the 
deeds, look up the title, examine the lands and acquaint himself 
with the situation generally. For this service Keating was to 
receive 2600 acres of the land, or eight shares of the Asylum Com- 
pany 'if -it was substituted for the land, and his expenses. Keating 
says that he started from Philadelphia September 11th, 1797, and 
was back in Philadelphia in November, having accomplished the 
mission entirely on horseback in fifty-four days to the entire satis- 
faction of de Noailles. NoailleiS having paid something on account 
of the bond, met with financial trouble and sought every pretext 
to delay payment but finally paid it off in full. He subsequently 
sold the land in Tennessee without notice to Keating and left for 
San Domingo without giving him his share or answering his let- 
ters, or even offering to repay him his expenses, which he says 
amounted approximately to $200 ; this amount including his 
own personal expenses and those of his servant and the keep of 
two horses. He never saw de Noailles again. He takes pains to 
say in his diary that he freely forgave him, though he thinks it 
would have been more honorable for him to have frankly explained 
his condition. He feels sure, however, that it would have been a 
pleasure for Noailles to have satisfied his debt, as he was most 
generous and did not care for money for the sake of the money 
itself. Subsequently, when Messrs. Talon and Gernon made a 
large purchase of isome 300,000 acres of land in northern Pennsyl- 
vania, known as the Ceres Company, the management on behalf of 
a syndicate of foreigners devolved upon him and lasted through- 
out his life. 



108 The Story of Some French Refugees 



John Keating was then in the full bloom of vigorous manhood. 
The aim of the company in settling this land was the pursuit of 
agriculture, hence the chosen name of the old Goddess Ceres for 
the company. It was through Francis King, an estimable man and 
hardy pioneer, that the first locations were made and settlements 
begun, Mr. King had first settled at Asylum, but being doubtful 
about a permanent title, went further into the wilderness at the 
request of John Keating. The English yeomen who followed Mr. 
King .set the pace for their posterity, and the French, Irish and 
German colonists who came later, peopling the new land which 
they developed, were in strong contrast with the immigrants of 
today, who crowd our cities in a shiftless search for employment 
instead of planting themselves on the soil to reap the rich fruits 
of patient and industrious tillage. A number of the settlers were 
those who abandoned Asylum. Keating made periodical trips to 
the ' ' lands ' ' as they were called, continuing his visits until he was 
ninety years old and he could travel by railroad. The first jour- 
neys involved weeks of laborious travel, cut off almost entirely 
from the world, and attended by privations and dangers. They 
w^ere made on horseback, and often the bare ground was the only 
available resting place. John Keating visited the settlers and 
took a personal interest in all the developing enterprises of the 
country, churches, schools, roads, etc. It was during one of these 
long absences that his beloved wife died, and had been buried a 
month Avhen he returned. Her name is perpetuated in Eulalia 
Chapel at Coudersport. Some towns were named for the manag- 
' ing agents in Amsterdam. Sometimes he brought home a bottle 
of "Seneca oil," which the Indians gathered by spreading their 
blankets on the surface of the stream now called Oil Creek. Little 
did he suspect" the untold millions which lay hidden under the 
Ceres lands. With the dawn of the new century, with all eyes 
riveted on the future, it is not without a certain pleasure and 
interest that we occasionally pause and view in retrospect the 
w^ork of those who prepared the way, and whose footprints were 
the first to make impression on the land. 

In a history of Ceres a descendant of Francis King says, of 
John Keating: "He endured privations as became a soldier, 
no longer a soldier bat a most benevolent Christian gentleman, 



Anthoi-'s Note — It was possibly some of these Ceres lands whose title was held by- 
Talon's heirs for many years; for we have in our possession at the hands of J. Percy 
Keating, a most interesting deed, executed in Paris, at the Consulate of the Uniteid States 
of America, in 1828 on the occasion of the last visit to France of John Keating. The deed 
is of a property in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, from the son and daughter of Omer 
Talon to John Keating. This daughter was Victorine Talon, then the Countess du Cayla, 
a celebrated woman of France. Among many distinguished witnesses we note the signa- 
ture of Louis d'Autremont, who returned to France ^Yith TallejTand. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 109 

whom it was an honor and privilege to know, and whom it was 
impossible not to trust." 

Shortly after dissolving his connection with Asylum, John Keat- 
ing married at Washington, December 11, 1797, Enlalia Descha- 
pelles, the daughter of Alexander Britton Deschapelles, a promi- 
nent planter from San Domingo, of noble French lineage, and took 
up his residence in Wilmington, Delaware. After his wife's death 
he returned to Philadelphia, w*here he resided during the balance 
of his life. He died at the age of ninety-six, being for some time 
the last survivor of the officers of the French service during the 
French pre-revolutionary period. By the death of his eldest 
brother, Geoffrey, the title of Baron devolved iipon him, though, 
being then an American citizen, he did not, of course, assume it. 
He was associated with many institutions of philanthropy and 
charity in Philadelphia, and as his portrait indicates, was of im- 
posing stature and possessed all the courtly bearing of a French 
gentleman of the old school. He was devoted to his church and to 
the memories of the monarchy in France. 

The present head of the family has in his possession, besides 
other interesting relics, portraits of Geoffrey and his wife (a 
Quin, whose father was the progenitor of the present Earl of Dun- 
raven) clad in gorgeous robes of crimson velvet, the letters patent 
of nobility granted to Valentine by Louis XVI, the cross of St. 
Louis awarded to General Thomas Keating, a portrait of Marie 
Antoinette* said to have been presented to John Keating by the 
Due de Berri, and a miniature of Talon presented by himself. 
(Copies to be found in this volume.) 

John's oldest son, John Julius, married Elizabeth Hopkinson, 
a granddaughter of Francis Hopkinson, the signer, and died early. 
His widow subsequently married William Biddle, brother of Nich- 
olas Biddle, the financier, and lived to an advanced age. She 
knew all the great statesmen of the ante-war period, visited the 
White House as the guest of John Quincy Adams, travelled ex- 
tensively abroad and was possessed of a most interesting person- 
ality. Her memoirs would have been most entertaining. 

John's second son, AVilliam H., was one of Philadelphia's fore- 
most citizens some seventy years ago. While a member of the legal 
profession he early devoted himself to scientific pursuits. He ac- 
companied Long in his pioneer exploration of the Yellowstone, and 



*A copy of tills portrait is the frontispiece of this Tolume, reprocluced by the courtesy 
of the o^^^ler, J. Percy Keating. The fajnlly tradition, doubtless true, is that it once 
hung in the royal palace, and was presented to John Keating on the occasion of one of 
his visits to France by Due de Berri, a nephew of Louis XVI. 



110 The Story of Some Feench Refugees 

wrote the history of the expedition ; was Professor of Chemistry 
at tiie University of Pennsylvania; was also one of the projectors 
of the Pennsylvania and Reading Railroad Company, and in com- 
pany with Frederick Fraley and others, founded the Franklin 
Institute. His brother and he were members of the State Legisla- 
ture at the same time, and his activities exended in many and vari- 
ous directions. He married Elizabeth, daughter of J. Eric Boll- 
man, a man of great prominence in his day, who enjoyed the inti- 
macy of Lafayette and Madame de Stael, and took active part in 
many popular movem^ents having for their object the extension of 
the great principles laid do^vn in our Declaration of Independence. 
John Keating 's grandson, the son of his daughter Eulalia, (who 
married her cousin of the name) was the late William V. Keating, 
M. D., who attained high rank in his profession, and was Surgeon- 
in-Chief of the Broad and Cherry Street Hospital, Philadelphia, 
during the war, besides holding many positions of honor and trust. 
And finally John Keating 's great grandson, the late John M. Keat- 
ing, M. D., who followed in his father's footsteps and enjoyed a 
wide popularity as a physician, was a voluminous writer and editor 
of medical works, which have attained a world-wide circulation. 

J. P. K. 

I. John Keating, b. in Ireland, Sept. 20, 1760, d. May 19, 1856; 
m. Eulalia Deschapelles. 

Children : 
. 2 John Julius, b. Sept. 16, 1798, d. . . 1824. 

3 William H, b. Aug. 11, 1799. 

4 Eulalia, b. Sept. 24, 1801, d. . . 1873. 

II. John' J., m. 1824 Elizabeth Hopkinson. No children. 

III. William' II., m. Elizabeth Bollman. 
Child : 

5 Ellen E., b . . 1840. 

IV. Eulalia', m. Aug. 12, 1818, Jerome Keating (cousin). 
Children : 

6 Amelia b. . . 1820, d . . 1886. 

7 William N., b. . . 1823, d. . . 1894. 

8 Mary, b. . . 1833, d. . . 1864. 

VI. Amelia Keating", m. 1837, Peter Bauduy. 

Child : 

IX. Jerome* K., b. . . m. Caroline Bankhead, 

Children : 

10 William K. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 111 

11 Elizabeth. 

12 Caroline R. 

13 Mary. 

14 Louis. 

15 Jerome. 

VII. William^ V., m. . . 1851, Susan La Roche. 
Children : 

16 John M., b. . . 1852, d . . 1893. 

17 J. Percy, b. . . 1855, m. . . 1883 Catherine E. Dixon. 

18 Eulalia, b . . 1856. 

19 Susan L., b. . . 1858. 

20 Mary, b. . . 1864, m. . . 1898 Mason Lisle. 

21 Sophie B., b .'. 1866. 

XVI. John M., m. . . 1877 Edith McCall. 
Children : 

22 Edith, b. . . 1878. 

23 Elizabeth, b. . . 1880. 

24 Margaret, b. . . 1882. 

25 Peter McC, b. . . 1884. 

XVIII. Eulalia', m. . . 1879, Mason Campbell. 
Child: 

26 Virginia, b. . 1881, m. . . 1902 John S. Newbold. 

XIX. Susan L., m. . . 1884 Lindle}^ Johnson. 
Children : 

27 Lindley, b. . . 1885. 

28 Keating, b. . . 1887. 

29 Marion, b. . . 1889. 

30 Susan, b. . . 1890. 

VIII. Mary Keating', m. . . 1852 Jas. M. Willcox. 
Children : 

31 William J., b. . . 1856, m. April, 1883 Mary Cavender, d. 
1893. 

Children: Doroth}^, d., John Keating, Harold, Eulalia m. Dr. 
Oliver Perry Pepper. 

32 Eulilia', b., . .1859, m. R. W. Lesley, had Eulalia', b. 1880. 

33 Mary, b. . . 1860. 

34 James M., b. . . 1862, m. . . Louise Lindsle}^ Reed. 



112 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



.2^C4AAJ/tMlvOrvd, 



\lj -■ 




Hubert d'Autremont Avas a Parisian royalist, evidently belong- 
ing to a family of importance, as evinced both by his coat of arms 
and his intimacy with such prominent Frenchmen as Talleyrand; 
Dupont, a distinguished French writer and statesman, who was 
one of the commissioners in the Louisiana purchase ; and Baron 
Neuville, a bitter royalist. Hubert is said to have been guillotined 
early in the Revolution. 

His widow, Marie Jeane d'Ohet, from a family of wealth and 
position, with her three sons, Louis Paul, aet. twenty-two, Alex- 
ander Hubert, aet. sixteen, and Auguste Francois Cecil, aet nine, 
left France in 1792, their royalist principles making life uncertain 
there. In company' with the family of lier sister Madame Lefevre, 
and some others; they came to America and alettled on the Chenango, 
on lands previously contracted for in France from William W. 
Morris, through his agent, Charles F. Bue Boulogne. They arrived 



The Story of Some Frencpi Refugees 113 

evidently in the late summer of 1792, as an act of sale was made 
out by Boulogne in Philadelphia, Sept. 1792. In October, 1793, 
the oldest son on his way to Philadelphia stopped at Asylum, doubt- 
less to see Boulogne. He was one of the first twenty-three visitors 
to Asylum and was in search of a better location than the one on 
the Chenango. It was he who carried back to the Chenango an 
account of the proposed town that later attracted thither a num- 
ber of his associates with his mother's family. 

The power of attorney under which Boulogne acted in making 
their contracts v/as lost in Paris, and, having never been recorded, 
after the death of Morris and Boulogne, the lands were lost, or 
sold for a trivial sum on account of supposed poor title, though 
it was finally held good. (See AA^endall Common Law reports, N. 
Y., p. 82, vol. 7). 

A recital of the case, drawn up in Frei:eh in 1805 by Louis Paul 
d'Autremont, then in Paris, is still in existence.* 

(Original in French) 
*Recital of the case which is to be begim against William W. ilorris to reclaim 6,O'0''3 
acres of land or thereabouts situated on the Chenango River, ilontgomery Co., Ne"\v York. 
M. Charles Felix De Boulogne sold at Paris in 1792 lands under two different titles. 
1st under power of attorney of 51. M. iSIalachi Treat and "William iL Morris, proprietors 
of a certain quantity of lands upon the Chenango River, 
to JIadame d'Autremont & to W. Brevost, 

2nd as proprietor of a part of these same lands Which he had purchased from 
said Treat and Morris the 

16th of .June, 1791 
to M. Duvernet 1600 

Bourneville 800 

Silvestre 1600 

:>larguerlte soo 

Contract passed before Wagner 
Notary Public at New York 
in presence of James Thompson 
Constable 

At the time of the arrival of a part of the families in Philadelphia in 1792 the act of 
this sale as well as fonde de pouvolr of Messrs. Treat & Morris was made by Boulogne 
to Madame d'Autremont, Leferve and Brevost before Peter Lohra, notary at Philadelphia, 
in the beginning of September, 1792. 

As to the articles of sale which regarded M. Duvernet and others, coacquerems, it does 
not appear that they were made before a Notary before the 7th of December, 1794, and 
always before the aforesaid Peter Lohra, Notary at Philadelphia. M. Duvernet declares 
that the articles were placed in the band at Philadelphia near the close of 1794. It is 
probable that this delay took place in order that the stipulation of lands might be made 
In a precise manner, and when the survey which was made the following year siiouia nave 
been finished. The 24th of September, 1792, we find a copy of the articles of sale of 15360 
acres made to Boulogne by JI. M. Morris & Treat, that is to say that il. M. Treat and 
Morris comprehended in a single article of sale not only the COO acres of land which they 
had sold in 1791, but also the 9360 Avhieh they had directed Boulogne to sell in France. 
The articles of sale realized, upon our passage to New York, when we went to take pos- 
session of our lands included a definite quittance of the total price of the sale. AVe ought 
then to believe ourselves secure from all pursuit growing out of the facts of the first sale 
to Boulogne. Nevertheless upon the death of the latter, which took place in 1795, or 1796, 
upon the Susquehanna, M. Morris swore that he had never received anything from the 
sale of lands (illegible word) all the purchasers Avho had bought by virtue of the powers 
given V>y himself and Treat to Boulogne, as well as the purchasers who had boTight directly 
of Boulogne. These same purchasers by separating the titles above nxentiond, that is to 
say 
M. Duvernet "> 

Silvestre ^Members of the institute. 

Marguerite [ 

Bourneville J 
demand that measures should be taken in order that they may enter into possession of 
their lands, which have to day a great value, being situated in a rich, healthy and inhab- 
ited country. d'Al'TREMONT. 



114 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



Their situation from the first was not a pleasant one, and it was 
not long before Mme. d ' Autremont decided to join her countrymen 
at Asylum, as did the Prevosts and Lefevres.* 

In 1795, when Talleyrand 
visited Asylum, Louis Paul 
d 'Autremont returned with him 
to France - a's his secretary. 
Judge Stevens said of him that 
he could speak the English 
language and was among the 
handsomest and most active 
men of his time, a statement 
borne out by the portrait here 
reproduced. 

D 'Autremont remained in 
France until his death in the 
forties with the exception of a 
visit of many months to Amer- 
ica in 1836. He married in 
Paris and had one child, a 
daughter. There are still d'Au- 
tremonts iu Paris, cousins of 
Hubert's descendants, active 
patriots, being a soldier and army nurses (two women). He 
was a mian of considerable ability, an ardent speculator in wild 
lands in America, whither his heart ever turned with as much 
love and longing for his family, and as much admiration for Amer- 
ica (even the wilderrjess) as the French generally had for their 
OAvn country. His letters to his mother, many of which are still 
in existence, are marvels of love and veneration, and his solicitude 
for her welfare and that of his brothers, standiS apparently first 
in his mind. He made repeated efforts to secure for them a com- 
fortable estate, Avhich for some time he fancied might also be an 
asylum for himself. The affairs of France led him to Americanize 
his name into Dauthrimonth, as he writes: 

"I must tell you that in order to avoid anything disagreeable I pass 
for a Canad'an, here, have been naturalized as an American, and have 
changed a little the architecture of my name." 

After the true French fashion he tried to arrange marriages for 
his brothers, even at such a distance. At one time it was a family 
going from France to the Chenango lands with whom he hoped 




*In reality, hearing of tlieir clistrrsi;?cl condition, Talon sent a Durham boat np the river 
to convey them to Asvlum. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 115 

Augiiste would make an alliance, again a young daughter of 
Madame Prevost, whom he knew at Asylum, adding : 

"If she suits him, and if on his side he p'.eascs lier, I think, good 
mania, the affair had better be terminated Marriage will do a great 
deal for Auguste, he is a fine looking boy, young and vivacious, and that 
is all that is necessary to be a good husband and father." 

Again he writes : 

"The affairs of Elurope are becoming such, that if we had the misfor- 
tune to be defeated, there v^^ould be no other, resource than to return 
again to those vast forests where one hears the Iroquois." 

When Talon left Asylum, or a little later Mme. d'Autremont 
and her two sons returned to the Chenango tract, and lived ou 
Butternut Creek near Pittsfield. Here they remained until 1806, 
when by the advice, and with the assistance of her son in Paris, 
siie purchased land at Angelica, N. Y., where she lived and died, 
and where some of her descendants have lived ever since. She 
gave the name of "the Retreat" to her purchase. She had for 
friends Frenchmen of influence, among whom was the ancestor of 
the well known DuPont family of Delaware. 

Previous to this last removal, Alexander, desperate at their fail- 
ure to obtain title to Chenango land, followed the treacherous 
Boulogne to the West Indies, hoping to compel him to make resti- 
tution. Ill luck, hoAvever, pursued him, the vessel Avas ship- 
wrecked, he reached land with difficulty, being impeded with the 
weight of a money belt belonging to a fellow passenger. He then 
had yellow fever and was very glad to return alive, without even 
seeing Boulogne. 

With the advice and constant assistance of Louis Paul, he en- 
gaged in farming and became prosperous, as did also his brother 
Auguste, though Auguste had for awihile a great desire either to 
return to France or to be a sailor. However, he went to Wilming- 
ton and entered into business under the DuPonts. He remained 
in Delaware for several years, removing thence to Hume, N. Y. 

Both of these men, as well as their mother, desired to return to 
France as much as Louis Paul did to America. But in time, doubt- 
less influenced by their brother's letters, they resigned themselves 
to remaining here, though Auguste once paid a visit to his mother 
country. We regret that we cannot give space to all. of the fasci- 
nating letters of Louis Paul, teeming always with good advice to 
the younger brothers, and sometimes showing an amusing igno- 
rance of Yankee ways. 

Alexander had no sooner settled permanently than he wished 
to build a distillery for the manufacture of whiskey. Louis Paul 
thought a saw mill, flour mill or the manufacture of saltpeter 



116 



The Story op Some French Refugees 



wiser, and seemed to be somewhat concerned about ''wiske" drink- 
ing. He writes: 

"Above all, clear mama, see that Alexander does not make use of wiske 
the first year. I am told that the use of this newly distilled liquor will 
give one epileptic attacks." 

Mme. d'Autremont was prob- 
ably born at Etampes, as the 
d'Ohet estate is situated there. 
She possessed a house at Dam- 
piere, which may have been, 
where she resided with her hus- 
band. 

Like a true French woman 
she was very fond of dress, and 
even in her log house in the 
wilderness, she made her toi- 
lette several times a day, always 
donning full dress in the eve- 
ning. Turquan, the French 
historian, was much impressed 
with this account and records 
her in his work as " a marvellous 
type of a Avoman" under the 
reign of Louis XVI showing that she had lived in luxury 
with no other occupation than to dress, undress and dress again, 
to chat or "jabber" in their "salons." Speaking of the imperious 
necessities, of life in the woods at Asylum, he says that possessing 
those qualities Mme. d'Autremont, even among her cows and her 
fowls, lived like a great lady as had her ancestresses of the Middle 
Ages, AVe are able to reproduce her portrait. 

She preserved many interesting letters, papers and some por- 
traiti-S, rAost of which were destroyed by fire some twenty or more 
years ^igo. There still exist, however, numerous letters from her 
son and his wife, her father's Avill, a list of the articles she brought 
from France, and her carefully itemized personal accounts. Most 
of these papers are uoav in the possession of a daughter of Auguste, 
residing at Hume, N. Y., where he lived and died. Though Louis 
Paul was a resident of Asylum for but a short time, that he was 
actively concerned in affairs of the colony is shown by various 
papers bearing his bold signature, always d'Autremont, thus 
showing him to be the head of the family. Judge Stevens says: 

"He could speak the English language, and was amongst the handsom- 
est and most active men of his time." 




The Story op Some French Eefugees 



117 





118 The Story of Some French Refugees 

I. Hubert d'Antremout, m. Feb. 3, 1770, Marie Jeane cl'Ohet, 
b. 1745. 

Children, born in France : 

2 Louis Paul, b. Nov. 7, 1770, d. 184 — in Paris, no male issue. 

3 Alexandre Hubert, b. March 12, 1776, d. April 4, 1857. 

4 Auguste Francois Cecil, b. June 7, 1783, d. Jan, 28, 1860. 

III. Alexander- H, m. 1798 Abigail Dodge, dau. Maj. Dodge. 
Children : 

5 Adeline, b. July 12, 1800. 

6 Amelia D., b. April 28, 1803, d. Jan. 13, 1876. 

7 Louis P., b. Jan. 28, 1805. 

8 Victor D., b. Aug. 16, 1807. 

9 Caroline, b. Dec. 8, 1809. 

10 Janet, b. Nov. 30, 1814. 

11 Charles, b. June 26, 1818, d. March 3, 1891. 

12 Alexander, b. April 2, 1821. 

13 Virginia, b. July 30, 1824. 

14 Sophia, b. Aug. 3, 1829, d. Oct. 17, 1894. 

V. Adeline' d 'Autremout, m. 1826 Ithamar Smith of Lyme,- 
Conn. 

Children : 

15 Janet, b. Feb. 9, 1827. 

16 Emily, b. Sept. 15, 1828. 

17 Amanda A., b. July 26, 1830. 

18 John C, b. Nov. 3, 1833. 

19 Alexander D., b. Dee. 25, 1835. 

20 Harriet A., b. Jan. 10, 1837. 

21 Caroline B., b. Oct. 2, 1839. 

22 AUgail D., b. Oct. 4, 1831, m. Jan. 5, 1882, Dr. Randall 
Reed. 

XV. Janet* Smith, m. Charles Horton. 
Children : 

23 Elizabeth Amelia. 

24 Charles Frederick. 

XVII. Amanda* A. Smith, m. Llewellyn Budd, m. James 
Lancy. 

XVIII. John'' C. Smith, m. Rebecca Van Hoasen, no issue; m. 
1860 Emma F. Lockwood. 

Child : 

25 John. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 119 

XX. Harriet' A. Smith, iii. July 15, 1876, Isaac W. Fassett. 

28 Frederick, b. Feb. 9, 1879. 

XXI. Caroline' B. Smith, m. Augustus Balthasar. 
Children : 

29 Frederica. 

30 Harriet A. 

31 Charles A. 

VI. Amelia!' D. d'Autremont, m. Hugh Magee. 
Children : 

32 Margaret. 

33 John. 

34 Henry. 

35 Sarah. 

36 Amelia. 

37 Abigail. 

38 Jane. 

39 Angelica Church', m. Daniel Beach. 

VII. Louis" P. d'Autremont, m. Oct. 12, 1826, Hannah Magee.. 
Children : 

40 Abigail A., b. Dec. 24, 1827, d. 1899. 

■ 41 James P., b. Oct. 10, 1830, d. Oct., 1895. 

42 Margaret C. b. July 1, 1833. 

43 Mary C, b. Aug. 8, 1835. 

44 Louis A., b. March 2, 1838. 

45 Hannah, b. May 23, 1840, d. July 27, 1842. 

46 Victor B., b. April 23, 1843, d. March 9, 1878. 

47 Charles J., b. March 28, 1845. 

48 Francis, b. Aug. 24, 1849. 

VIII. Victor" D. d'Autremont, m. Isabella Common. 
Children : 

49 Victor. 

50 Sophia. 

51 John. 

52 Abigail. 

53 Belle. 

IX. Caroline", m. Charles Brundage. 

Descendants live near Bath, N. Y. Have no further information. 

X. Janet* d'Autremont, m. Ephraim Smith. 
Descendants live at Wellsville, N. Y. 

XI. Charles" d'Autremont, m. 1850 Sarah Collins, b. Nov. 19, 

1822. 



120 The Story of Some French Refugees 

Children : 

54 Charles Jr., b. June 2, 1851, living at Duluth, Minn. 

55 Mary, b. Oct. 16, 1854. 

XIV, Charles' d 'Autreniont, Jr., m. April 21, 1880 at Ehnira, 
Hattie Hart. 
Children : 

56 Antoinette, b. July 10, 1881. 

57 Louis Paul, b. Aug. 23, 1883. 

58 Charles Maurice, b. Aug. 6, 1887. 

59 Hubert Hart, b. Feb. 19, 1889. 

60 Marie Genevieve, b. March 9, 1892. 

XII. Alexander' d'Autremont, m. Diana Howard. Descend- 
ants live near Angelica, N. Y. 

XIV. Sophia' C. d'Autremont, m. Feb. 6, 1849, Lucien P. 
"Wetherby. 
Children : 

61 John K., b. May 15, 1851. 

62 Harris V., b. Jan. 18, 1857. 

63 Clarence L; b. March 17, 1861, d. 1879. 

IV. Auguste' Francois Cecil, b. June 7, 1785, in Paris, d. Jan. 
28, 1860, m. at Brandywine, Del., July 15, 1861, Sarah A. Stewart, 
b. Sept. 10, 1794, d. Sept. 4, 1840. 

Children : 

64 Matilda, b. June 1, 1817, d. Dec. 31, 1884. 

65 Josephine, b. Jan. 31, 1820, d. May 7, 1901. 

66 Augustus Jr., b. Feb. 29, 1822, d. March 29, 1889. 

67 Mary H., b. July 27, 1824, d. July 8, 1836. 

68 Francois P., d. Sept. 12, 1847, in Mexico. 

69 Caroline E., b. April 27, 1827, d. June 29, 1877. 

70 Victorine, b. June 7, 1830, d. July 24, 1836. 

71 Evelina E., b. April 17, 1833. 

72 Andrine Sarah, 

73 Clodine, 

b. Dec. 16, 1835. . 
d. July 18, 1836. 

LXV. Josephine', m. Oct. 15, 1846, Harden P. Mather. 
Children : 

74 Charles Augustus, b. Sept. 29, 1847. 

75 Walter D., b. Jan. 29, 1851. 

76 Theodore J., b. Aug. 3, 1853. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 121 

LXVI. Augustus' Jr., in. Feb. 14, 1854, Adeline Mather, m. 
Jan. 4, 1863, Mary A. Hubbard. 
Children by Adeline Mather: 

77 Frank, b. July 11, 1855, d. March 11, 1873. 

78 George W., b. Nov. 3, 1856. 

79 Julia E., b. April 3, 1859. 

80 Lucian, b. March 12, 1861. 
Children by Mary A. Hubbard : 

81 Addie, b. July 2, 1864, d. Sept. 25, 1889. • ' 

82 Carrie, b. July 2, 1870. 

LXIX. Caroline-, m. June 22, 1858, Ralph Taylor. 
Children: 

83 Marij A., b- Jan. 29, 18—. 

84 Carrie E., b. Nov. 29, 1862, d. ' 

85 Alfred, b- July 6, 1869. 

LXXII. Andrine' S-, m. April 19, 1869, S. A. Farman. 

Child : 

86 Henry, b. April 26, 1871. 

LXXIII. Mary' A. Taylor, m. Nov. 10, 1878, Frank Clark. 

Child : 
87 Ada. 

LXXXV. Alfred Taylor, m. 
Children : 

88 
89 

LXXIV- Charles A. Mathew, m. Dec. 18, 1882, Carrie Corbin. 
Children : 

90 Henry. 

91 Josephine. 

LXXV. Walter D. Mather, m. Nov. 28, 1876, Sarah Moore, d. 
no dhildren; m. Emma. 
Children : 

92 Charles. 

93 Ralph. 

LXXVII- Theodore' P. Mather, m. Nov. 23, 1879, Mary 
Beardslee. 
Children : 

94 Charles. 

95 Elizabeth. 



122 The Story of Some French Refugees 

LXXVIII. George' W. d'Autremont, m. 1878, M. Ayers, m. 
1894, Jennie Skiff. 
Child by M. Ayers: 

96 Charles, b. Oct- 21, 1880, d. Jmie 19, 1891. 
Child by J. Skiff: 

97 Georgie 0., b. Aug. 5, 1900. 

LXXIX. Julia E\ d'Autremont, m. Aug. 31, 1878, Will Col- 
burn, m. Fred Stone. 

Children by Will Colburn: 

98 Gracie, b- Oct. 31, 1879, m. James Wallace. 

99 Ray. 

Child by Fred Stone : 

100 Meta V., b. Feb. 14, 1902. ' 

LXXX. Lucian' d'Autremont, m. Sept. 4, 1888, Lizzie Clark- 
Children : 

101 Roy A., b. May 24, 1889. 
92 Louis F., b. July 22, 1891- 
103 Addison M., b. May 4, 1895. 
94 Mildred, b. Aug. 31, 1899. 

LXXXII- Carrie^ m. Sept. 4, 1888, George Clark. 

Child: 

105 Henry, b. Feb. 2, 1891. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 



123 



oAlno 




Lefevre 

Antoine Bartoleni}^ L. Lefevre was born in Paris, 1750. His 
wife was Marie Genevieve d'Ohet, born in 1750, probably at 
Etampes, a town near Paris, as the d'Ohet family still have an 
estate there. Antoine, or Anthony as he is now known, was an 
architect in stone and master builder. He was also proprietor of 
a cafe, to which many prominent royalists resorted in the early 
days of the French Revolution. He therefore soon fell under sus- 
picion, and thought it Vvise to leave France. In company with 



124 The Story of Some French Refugees 

Mme. d 'Autremont (his wife's sister), John Brevost and some 
others in 1792 he sailed from Havre in the ship Hanna, Captain 
Steborn. He had four children (disputed), but under regulations 
then in force he could only take part of his family with him, there- 
fore passports Avere made out for one son and one daughter. Be- 
fore the vessel sailed the son died, whereupon the youngest daugh- 
ter, disguised in her brother's clothing, was passed under his 
name, and accompanied her father; the wife and son follow^ing 
them soon. 

This party settled on the Chenango River at or near Butter- 
nuts. But their surroundings were not pleasant, far from sup- 
plies and with Indians very near. To fill the measure of their 
troubles the title by which they held their land proved worthless. 
They determined to join their countrymen at Asylum, and removed 
thither in 1794. M. Lefevre secured one of the Loyal Sock tracts, 
just where cannot be ascertained, but his daughter said it was in 
an unbroken wilderness, inhabited chiefly by bears and wolves. 
There in a log hut without windows or doors, guarded by two 
dogs, this whilom keeper of a fashionable French cafe under- 
took to make a clearing himself and thus secure a farm 
and livelihood for his family.. It is not surprising that even 
French enthusiasm soon cooled under such circumstances, and 
that the pioneer returned to the settlement. It has been errone- 
ously said of him that he w^as licensed to keep the first inn in 
Asylum in August, 1794. Judge Stevens says this ''first license 
was granted to Louis Lefevre, Avho afterwards removed to Phila- 
delphia, became insane and drowned himself in the Schuylkill 
river." These two names, Antoine and Louis, are found in the 
lists of taxables wdth different spelling of the surnames, and in 
one of the old accounts kept by Talon "Lefevre" is entered as a 
servant. Antoine must have been a man of education as is shown 
by his fine penmanship. After Asylum Avas abandoned, he pur- 
chased a property across the river from it, Avhere he lived with his 
family throughout his life. He and his Avife are buried in the 
cemetery at Wyalusing. 

The will of Antoine Lefevre, Avritten by himself in 1827, is an 
interesting instrument. In particular the list of articles brought 
from France, i. <■., "four large silver spoons, six small ones, one 
complete copper still, with all its implements, three copper pans, 
one large copper pan Avith tAvo iron handles, a bureau Avith a mar- 
ble top, two complete beds and beddings of the best and one pair 
of sheets brought from Paris in France. ' ' One of these copper 
pans Avas offered to the Avriter a fcAV years since by Mr. LcAvis 



The Story op Some French Refugees 125 

Biles, who gave at the same time a copper candlestick (now in 
museum at Athens) which he had bought at a sale of effects of 
Mrs. John Huff, nee Lefevre, and which she had often told him 
came from France. (Reproduced in forepart of volume with other 
relics of Asylum.) 

1. Antoine B. L. Lefevre, m. Marie G. d'Ohet, b. 1750, d. 1834. 
Children : 

2. Alexander, b. d. 1814. 

3 Cecelia A., b. May 13, 1785, d. May 8, 1876. 

4 Augustine E., b. July, 1787, m. 1811, J. Huff, d. May 16, 
1879. 

III. Cecelia' A., m. 1815, John Antoine Prevost. 
Children : 

4 Edward, b. Dec. 1 ,1817, d. Feb. 22, 1900. 

5 Angeliqite 31., b. Oct. 16, 1819. 

6 Theophilus, b. 1824, d. 1882. 

John Antoine Prevost, husband of Cecelia Lefevre, was born in 
Paris, Sept. 23, 1777, d. April 30, 1868. In May, 1800, he sailed 
from Rochelle for America. Several years later he made the ac- 
quaintance of Alexander d'Autremont, and was induced by him 
to visit As^dum, where he met and married his wife. He is often 
confounded with John Brevost, one of the original settlers at 
Asylum. M. Prevost (according to some of his descendants) sailed 
from Havre, having staged from Paris, 420 miles. He was sevent}^ 
days at sea, he could not speak English and was easily persuaded 
to settle at Nantucket, the home of the captain of sailing vessel, 
where he remained four years. Having learned the language, he 
then went to "Wilmington, having letters to the DuPonts. Through 
their influence he removed to Angelica, where he met the d'Antre- 
monts. After his marriage he lived for a time in Philadelpliia, 
but returned to Russell Hill in 1825. In Paris he was a florist, and 
he never lost his taste for cultivating rare and beautiful plants, 
which were the wonder and admiration of his country neighbors. 

IV. Edward' Prevost, m. Sept. 28, 1842, Elizabeth Stark. 
Children : 

7 Cecelia, b. Dec. 7, 1843. 

8 Byron J, b. Dec. 31, 1845, d. May 27, 1863. 

9 Henry Clay, b. Sept. 10, 1847. 

10 Wallace William, b. Feb. 10, 1850. 

11 Mary E., b. Oct. 15, 1852, d. July 2, 1886. 

to I : r' >b. Jan. 3, 1857, d. Sept. 10, 1889. 
Id Victor J., 



126 The Story of Some French Refugees 

15 Lester 8., b. Dec. 13, 1863. 

14 Aiigelique F., b. Nov. 26, 1861, m. March 19, 1887, Dexter 
W. Stark. 

16 Clarence W., b. Jan. 30, 1866, m. Nov. 24, 1901, Sue Tiseh. 
VII. Cecelia\ m. Dec. 6, 1871, Daniel H. Walter. 
Children : 

17 Carrie E., b. March 23, 1873, Daniel H. Walter. 

18 Mildred A., b. March 23, 1877. 

19 Otta F., b. May 8, 1880, m. July 31, 1901, Frank French. 

20 Roy P., b. Dec. 7, 1882. 

XVII. Carrie E.," m. Nov. 6, 1895, Charles Robinson. 
Children : 

21 Mildred, b. Sept. 23, 1896. 

22 Roland, b. Aug. 6, 1902. 

IX. Henrij C." m. Dec. 9, 1877, Ida M. Young. 
Children : 

23 Dexter C, b.'Sept. 23, 1878, m. May 23, 1902, Elizabeth 
Wilbur. 

24 Harry E., b. June 3, 1881. 

25 Tracy H., b. Aug. 25, 1883. 

XI. Mary E\, m. Dee. 3, 1876, Dexter W. Stark. 
Children : 

26 Lee P., b. j\Ia'y 11, 1882. 

27 Fannie E., b. Jan. 2, 1885. 

XIII. Victor I.; ni. Jan. 29, 1885, Carrie Haver. 
Children : 

28 Edna E., b. Aug. 20, 1885. 

29 Mary E., b. July 21, 1887. 

30 Victor E., b. July 20, 1895. 

31 AVinifred, b. Dec. 24, 1900. 

XV. Lester S., ni. Oct. 2, 1889, Ida Savacol. 
Children : 

32 Blanche, b. April 9, 1891. 

33 Angelique, b. May 2, 1892. 

34 Edward, b. March 23, 1894. 

V. Angelique' M., m. Jan. .18, 1842, William Mix. 
Children : 

35 John AV., b. Dec. 16, 1842, m. Dec. 18, 1867, Belle Spalding. 

36 3Iarij E., b. Aug. 26, 1845. 

XXXVI. 3Ianj E.; m. Oct. 16, 1872, Mahlon Spalding. 
Child : 

37 William M., b. Feb. 15, 1876. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 127 



Laporte 

Bartholomew Laporte was born in Tulle, now in the province 
of Correze in France 1758. 

"In 1776 he emigrated to Spain and settled at Cadiz, wliere through 
the same spirit of enterprise that led him thither, he in the space of a 
few years, as a wine merchant, accumulated a handsome fortune. But, 
by a decree of the Spanish Government, banishing from within its limits 
all French subjects, and coniiscating- their property, his effects among 
others were seized and himself banished from the country." 

At a French seaport, supposed to be Marseilles, he encountered 
Talon, as has already been told, and came with him to Asylum, 
though he differed in political sentiment from the other exiles, 
being a republican. In company with one Heraud, it is recorded 
that he Avas engaged in the mercantile business as early as May, 
1794. To his shop some time after came an English girl, Eliza- 
beth Franklin, daughter of John Franklin, {not Col. Jolin) who 
had settled at Asylum soon after his arrival in this country. La- 
porte was so enamored that he sought her in marriage, though 
over twenty years her senior. They were married at Asylum, 
presumably in the little log chapel. 

Always the trusted land steward of Talon, when the French 
abandoned Asylum, Laporte purchased a large tract of land, includ- 
ing Talon's house, on his own terms. His son John said of him: 
"Talon put him in charge of much of the work, he was in fact 
relied on by Talon as one to attend to all outside work, and when 
Talon returned to France, he sold to my father on his own terms 
the farm of 400 acres which he paid for by installments," adding 
later, seventy-eight acres more in the upper part of original sur- 
vey, and eventually, according to deed records at Towanda, he had 
1000 acres deeded to him by trustees of Asylum Company. They 
were described in groups of sixteen lots in the original town plot, 
each sixteen making a square, 227-242, 284-299, 341-356, 378-413. 

Bartholomew is said to have owned three lots, i.e., a settlement 
lot, a flatiron lot, so-called, and the lot on which the house stood; 
he Avas also agent for the unsold lands and July 3, 1881, Avas 
granted power of attorney by the Trustees of the Asylum Com- 
pany to lease any of the French holdings for one year. He main- 
tained a store in his house until near the time of his death. He 
was visited at Asylum by his brother John, a sailor, who has been 
sometimes confounded with him. At Bartholomew 's death a friend 
wrote of him in the National Intelligencer (Washington) : 



128 The Story op Some French Refugees 

"The writer was frequently the recipient of his well-known hospitality, 
and the auditor of his social and animated conversation, in short, inti- 
mately acquainted with him and his many amiable traits of character. 
He had one son, John, whom before his death, the Father had the proud 
satisfaction of seeing elected and re-elected to a seat in the highest and 
most dignified deliberative body in the United States or the world— the 
Congress of the United States." 

John La Porte was elected auditor in 1822, served in state legis- 
lature five years, being- speaker of the house one year. After two 
terms in Congress he was appointed associate judge in 1840, and 
surveyor-general of the state in 1845. In 1839 he built the large 
house still standing just south of the house of Talon. Though 
this property has passed out of the family, some of his descendants 
still live on the site of the French town, and gave the land on 
which in 1916 the memorial boulder was erected. Bartholomew 
Sr. and his wife and son are buried in a little family plot plainly 
visible from the river, on a slight elevation back of the old home. 
There are in the family today articles of wearing apparel brought 
by him from Cadiz. 

The county seat of Sullivan county is named Laporte, after 
Judge John Laporte ; it is not far from Dushore. 

T. Bartholomew Laporte, born in France 1758, d. Feb. 11, 
1836, m. Dec. 11, 1797, Elizabeth Franklin, (born in England). 
Child : 

II. John, b. Nov. 4, 1798, d. Aug. 22, 1862, m. Feb. 28, 1822, 
Matilda, daughter Jabez Chamberlain, and Irene Gilbert, d. Aug. 
5, 1838; m. Nov. 28, 1840, Eliza Bendle (second wife). 

Child : 

Matilda Jane, b. Oct. 24, 1841, m. ., d. . ., 1871. 

Children by Matilda Chamberlain: 

3. Bartholomew, b. Jan. 5, 1823, d. Sept. 15, 1889. 

4 Elizaheth, b. Nov. 24, 1825, d. Jan. 21, 1885. 

5 Scimuel McKean, b. Feb. 25, 1832, d. April 14, 1896. 

III. Bartholomew,^ m. July 31, 1835, Emily Terry. 
Children : 

6 G'^orge B., b. Feb. 14, 1846. 

7 John W., b. July 25, 1856, d. Feb. 6, 1886. 

8 Nancy M., b. May 14, 1859, d. Feb. 18, 1896. 

A^I. George* B., m. Jan. 17, 1877, Amanda Piatt, d. Sept. 10, 
1903. 

Children : 

9 Emily G., b. Nov. 25, 1877, m. Oct. 2, 1901, J. G. Kerrick. 
Child : 

Eleanor R., b. Aug. 6, 1908. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 129 

10 Nellie M., b. Sept. 14, 1879. 

11 Edith J., b. Oct. 24, 1881, d. July 23, 1898. 

VIII. Nancy'' M., m. 1889, Sidney Bovingdon. 
Children : 

12 John Laporte, b. June 29, 1890. 

13 George Terry, b. Jan. 23, 1893. 

14 Paul B., b. March 20, 1894. 

15 Nancy E., b. Jan. 23, 1896. 

IV. Elizahcih', m. at Asylum, Nov. 27, 1843, Charles F. Welles. 
Children : 

16 Frederick Laporte. 

17 Eleanor H., m. A. H. McClintock, deed. 

18 John C. 

19 Louise S., m. Millard P. Murray (author of this volume). 

20 Robert H., d. Feb. 12, 1903. 

21 Elizabeth Franklin, deed. 

22 Henry Fuller, d. 

23 Mary, d. April, 1868. 

24 Jessie. 
Grand-children : 

25 Katherine Louise Welles, d. 

26 George T. Welles. 

27 AndrcAV T. McClintock. 

28 Gilbert S. McClintock. 

29 Jessie Welles Murray. 

30 Elsie Murray. 

31 Louise Elizabeth Murray. 

V. S. McKean, m. Sept. 1864, Sarah Wright Corey. 
Children : 

32 Samuel McK., b. Sept. 27, 1865, m. 1896, Addie Hubbell. 

33 Eliza, b. Jan. 10, 1869. 

34 William C, b. April 14, 1871, m. Feb. 17, 1897, Maud 

Heimlich. 

XXXIII. Eliza', m. April 4, 1886, F. A. Buckbee ; m. April 27, 
1901, J. C. St. John. 

Children by Mr Buckbee : 

35 Raymond, b. Feb. 7, 1888, d. July 12, 1895. 

36 Alta May, b. Aug. 31, 1889. 

37 William McK., b. July 10, 1894. 



130 The Story of Some French Refugees 



Hornet 






was born in Paris in 1769. He 
Avas said to have been a steward 
in the honsehold of Louis XVI; 
therefore, being in sympathy 
with the royalists he felt it 
safer to flee from France. On his arrival at the Bay of Biscay 
he engaged passage, placed his effects on board an American ship 
and stayed in hiding over night as officers were on his track. In 
the morning, to his dismay, he found the vessel was riding at 
anchor five miles out of the harbor. Determined not to be left 
behind, he resolved to try to swim to the vessel; a rash resolve, 
but successfully accomplished. It was an exciting passage, for 
the vessel was chased by an English cruiser. The French vessel 
had but one old cannon, a very long one. There was an old gunner 
on board, Avho paced back and forth excitedly, and when both 
ships were becalmed, begged the captain to let him load the can- 
non and try to cut off the Englishman's mast head. For some 
time the captain thought the chances were too small, and the excit- 
ed passengers, knowing they were pursued for their wealth rather 
than their persons, gathered all their money and other valuables, 
put into a large bag and entrusted it to Charles Homet, with the 
understanding that if the}" v\'ere boarded by the English, he would 
oast the bag into the ocean. At last, as the vessels drifted nearer, 
the entreaties of the old gunner prevailed. Lying flat on the deck 
he carefully sighted, discharged the cannon, and the mast head 
was severed, disabling the English vessel, at which sight all the 
French cheered lustily. It was anticipated the English would 
take to their boats and board the French vessel, so the old cannon 
was reloaded ready to destroy them if need be. But night fell, 
there came a freshening breeze, and the French sailed out of sight 
of the English before daybreak. 

However, Charles was pleasantly occupied, as during the voyage 
he made or renewed the acquaintance of Maria There'sa Schillin- 
ger, a native of Strasburg, who had also served in the royal house- 
hold. They were married soon after tliey landed at Bordentown, 
at Bottle Hill, X. J., January, 1793. They lived about a year at 
Bottle Hill, but early in 1794, hearing of the Asylum colony, they 
were naturally attracted thither. It is possible that they were 
already known to Talon, Avho (juickly shoAved his confidence in 



The Story of Some French Refugees 131 

Charles Hornet by placing him in charge of the buildings in the 
forest intended for the hiding place of Marie Antoinette. Hornet 
lived at that point for about two years, and then moved into the 
settlement. He purchased several lots of the company; and, as 
has been said, when the French deserted the colony, he and La- 
porte were the only tw^o who remained on the ground. He lived 
on the lower part of the tow^n plot, near where the Methodist 
church is now" located. 

He was a very reserved man, and but little is really known of 
his personal history ; the latter part of his life he spent in Wysox, 
where he died. He was the last survivor of those who settled at 
Asylum. Judge Stevens, in an obituar}^, says of him, ' ' By prudent 
management and industry he soon acquired the means of comfort 
and ease. His integrity Avas never impeached, and with morals 
. unblemished he performed the pilgrimage of life, and like the 
righteous met death with hope of immortality." He died Dec. 
29, 1838. 

Charles Homet was twice married, his second wife being Cyn- 
thia Sicler, by wiiom he had one daughter, Lydia, who married 
E. T. Fox, of Towanda. As there are no living descendants of this 
Avife we will not give genealogy. His descendants for the most 
part live in Bradford county, thrifty and prosperous. A town 
nearly opposite the old Frenchtown was long since named for 
him, " Homet 's Ferry." Because of some old French books, suit- 
able for a priest's instruction, it has been thought that Charles 
or his son Francis considered entering priesthood, but we are 
inclined to believe that thej^ were left to him by some one of the 
priests who lived at Asylum. The volume entitled "Sermons pour 
Les Retraits par M. Collet, D.D.," printed in 1763, has on the 
fly-leaf an autograph signature of Charles Homet, Sr. Another 
is "Histoire de la Reine Marguerite de Valois, printed in 1777, with 
the approval and consent of the King ' ' ; also ' ' Les Adventures de 
Telemaque, " printed in 1699. Precious treasures. There is a 
dish brought by him that shows the fleur-de-lis of France, and 
that doubtless came from the Royal Palace. (Reproduced earlier.) 

I. Charles Homet, b. 1769, m. Jan. 1793, Maria Theresa Schil- 
linger, d. June 3, 1823. 
Children : 

2 CJimies Frederick, b. May 9, 1794, d. . . 1865. 

3 Francis Xavier, b. May 9, 1794, d. . . 1865. 

4 Harriet Theresa, b. March 2, 1801, d. Oct. 18, 1847. 

5 Joseph C, d. Feb. 26, 1880. 



132 The Story of Some French Refugees 

II. Charles F.' Hornet, Jr., m. Sept. 24, 1817 Lucy Stevens. 
Children : 

6 Francis, h. July 8, 1820, d. . . 1867. 

7 Theresa, b. July 8, 1822 at Asylum, d. 

8 Jonathan, b.Feb. 16, 1824, d. July 1, 1905. 

9 Edivard, b. May 3, 1826, d. 

10 Milton, b. May 24, 1828, d. Nov. 1899. 

11 Charles S., b. May 24, 1830, d. . . 1902. 

12 Volncy, b. March 20, 1833, d. Dec. 27, 1906. 

13 Seth, b. March 13, 1836, d. 

14 Joseph A., b. May 18, 1840, d. 

Ill Francis' X., m. June 24, 1828, Lucy Dodge, no issue. 

IV. Hiarrief T., m. Oct. 11, 1822, Simon Stevens. 
Children : 

15 Charles, b. Dec. 8, 1823, d. Dec. 5, 1895. 

16 Harriet, b. April 20, 1825, d. Sept. 6, 1860. 

17 George, b. May 10, 1826, d. Oct. 5, 1897. 

18 Ellen, b. May 10, 1830, d. Aug. 25, 1903. 

19 Mary S., b. Nov. 25, 1841, d. Dec. 25, 1871. 

V. Joseph', m. Orris Brown. Children: Jewett G., Marion, 

Lydia. 

VI. Francis", m. Mary Gilbert, no issue; m. Ada Chamberlain. 
Children : 

20 Mary, b. Aug. 13, 1847, m. George Fell. Children: Stella, 

M. Jean, M. Francis, Joseph, Paul, Hugh. 

21 George S., b. . . 1851, m. . . Wattles. 

22 Rachel, b. . ., m. . . William Welles, Children: Marian, m. ; 

Aline ; Arthur, m. ; Francis. 

VII. Theresa', m. Oct. 9, 1848, U. Philemon Stone. 
Children : 

23 Charles R., b. May 27, 1849, d. June 19, 1913. 

24 Thomas B., b. March 4, 1857, m. Minnie Hillis, children; 

William, b. Dec. 31, 1879 ; Susie, b. April 14, 1888. 

25 Ulysses P., b. March 5, 1859, m. April 11, . ., Augusta Hoff- 

man. 

26 Lucy, b. Nov. 9, 1865. 

VIII. Jonathan', m. March 24, 1851, Harriet Donley. 
Children : 

27 Lucy, b. May 21, 1853, m. Feb. 8, 1883, John H. Howard, 

Children : 
Brunetta, b. Jan. 31, 1884, m. Aug. 30, 1912, Ackley 
Blocher, one son. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 133 

Harriet, b. Aug. 3, 1885, in. Oct. 18, 1913, Vinette 

Taylor, two children. 
Genevieve, b. April 29, 1887, m. Aug. 30, 1912, Ernest 

Fox, two children. 
Jonathan, b. June 5, 1892. 

28 Ada. 

IX. Edward', m. Maria Mingos 
Child : 

29 Lucy J., b. April 2, . . d. July 17, 1907. 

X. Milton', m. Mary Ami Irvine. 
Children : 

30 Irvine, b. April 29, 1859, d. June 10, 1897. 

31 Theresa, b. June 6, 1872, m. May, 1901, Peter Patterson. 

XI Charles' S., m. . . Martha Decker. 
Children : 

32 Reed, b. 1852, m. Ella Gale, children: Minnie, Charles, 

Eleazer. 

33 Helen, b. Jan. 25, 1855, m. . . Bert Kingsley, children; 

Luella, m. John Miller, one son. 
George, m. Mildred Kerrick, one son. 
Flora. 

34 Ella, b. Jan. 26, 1855, m. . . Frank B. Hunt, one son, Chas. 

S., m. Audrey VanKuren. 
34a George, b, . . m. . . Minnie Kingsley, children : 

Fred, b. Oct. 31, 1886, m. . . Edna Beaman, one son. 
Frank, b. . . m. . . Eva Conklin. 

XII. Volney', m. April 30, 1861, Emma Ingham. 
Child : 

35 Jessie, b. April 20, 1863. 

XIII. Seth' m. Mch. 4, 1864, Elizabeth Eilenberger. 
Children : 

36 Marietta, b. March 5, 1865, m. June 19, 1890, A. D. Nesbit, 

one daughter. 

37 Charles M., b. Oct. 6, 1867, m. Oct. 28, 1896, Caroline 

Chamberlain, children: Elizabeth, Marietta. 

38 Cora, b. Oct. 21, 1869, d. May 10, 1888. 

39 Anna, b. April 16, 1877, d. 

40 Geraldine M., b. June 29, 1876, m. . . Richard Vaughan, 

one son. 



134 The Story of Some French Refugees 



XIV. Joseph' A., m. . . Adelia Gordon. 
Children : 

41. .Augusta, b. Aug. 26, 1867, m. . . Emory Kerrick, children: 
Joseph, Helena. 

42 Fanny, b. Oct. 2, 1870, m. July, 1906, Walter Wolcott, 

Child: Lydia. 

43 Edward, dec'd. 

44 Miron, dec'd. 

45 Eleazer, dec'd. 

XX. Charles Stevens', m. June 11, 1861, Julia Horton. 
Children : 

46 William H., b. March 22, 1862. 

47 Eliza H., b. Dec. 5, 1865, m. John Black. 

48 Francis, b. Aug. 27, 1869. 

XVI. Harriet/', m. M. J. Long, no issue 

XVII. George', m, . . Mary Eyer. 
Children : 

49 Charlotte, b. Aug. 9, 1865. 

50 Susie, b. Sept. 11, 1869, m. Chas. Mayberry, one son. 

51 George, b. Nov. 22, 1873, m. Francis Turner, children: 

Mary, b. 1900. 
George, b. 1902. 

XVIII. Ellen; m. Nov. 21, 1849, Win. R. Storrs. 
Children : 

52 Harriet, b. Nov. 2, 1805, m. Oct. 11, 1871, d. Feb. 2, 1895. 

53 William B., b. Aug. 20, 1856, d- Nov. 19, 1886. 

54 Marion E. 

55 Lillian G. 

XIX. Mary' S., m. Sept. 25, 1870, M. Long. 
Child : 

56 Fanny Eleanor, b. Oct. 22, 1871, m. Nov. 1905, W. B. Layton. 
XLVI. William' H., m. Oct. 17, 1889, Addie Mitten. 
Children : 

57 Harold M., b. Aug. 1, 1890. 

58 Roland S., b. July 16, 1891. 

59 Julia H., b. Dec. 5, 1892. 

60 Edna, b. Dee. 27, 1893. 

61 Marion, b. May 8, 1895. 

62 James L., b. March 2, 1898. 

63 Mildred, b. July 14, 1899. 

64 Neva, b. June 11, 1900. 



The Story of Some French Refugees 135 

65 Dorothy C, b. Dee. 26, 1902. 

66 Allen. 

67 Alice. 

XL VIII. Francis', m. Oct. 8, 1895, Lizzie Morrow. 
Children : 

68 Beatrice L., b. Oct. 4, 1896. 

69 Evelyn L., b. Dec. 3, 1898. 

70 Lida H., b. June 7, 1901. 

The Hornet genealogy, and perhaps others, are incomplete and 
not fully numbered because information was difficult to obtain for 
first edition. While some effort has been made to correct (in 1917) 
the work is too arduous and expensive to bring up to date, but is 
■included because early records are most valuable- 



APPENDIX 



The Various Asylum Associations, 1794 — 1802 

Plan of Asociation of the Asylum Company, 

as Established April 22, 1794 

Improved April 27, 1795. 

Articles of agreement made and entered into this 2 2nd day of April, 
1794, by and between Robert Morris, Esq., of the City of Phila. and Sena- 
tor from the State of Pa. in the Senate of the U. S. on behalf of himself 
and others his associates of the one part and John Nicholson Esqr. on 
behalf of said city, Comptroller-General of the State of Pa. on behalf of 
himself & others his associates of the other part: Witnesseth — that the 
said parties have entered into an association or company, for the pur- 
pose of settling & improving one or more tracts of country within the 
state of -Pa., having already acquired the titles to a number of valuable 
tracts of land, situated in Luzerne, Northumberland & Northampton 
Counties, which they are ready to dispose of to actual settlers and to 
such others as will send settlers upon the lands they purchase. And in 
order to insure the best and most faithful management of the affairs of 
this Company for the benefit not only of said parties, but also of all who 
may eventually become interested therein, the following articles are 
agreed to & adopted viz: — 

1. This association shall be styled the Asylum Company. 

2. The capital stock of this Co. shall consist of lands, some of which 
are already purchased, & others are to be purchased, within the state 
of Pa. to the extent of 1,000,000 acres thereabout. 

3. The said capital stock in lands shall be represented by so many 
shares or actions, of 200 acres each, as will amount to the quantity of 
land actually and bona fide the property of the company. 

4. The affairs and business of this Company shall be conducted by 
a Board of Managers, to be elected annually by the holders of shares 
or actions, each share entitling the holder to a vote to be given person- 
ally or by proxy duly authorized. 

5. The Board of Managers shall consist of a President & 4 members 
to be chosen from amongst the share holders of whom the President 
and 2 members shall be a quorum competent to transact business. 

5. The said board shall have authority to employ a secretary & treas- 
urer if necessary. 

7. The said Board of Managers shall be authorized to employ one or 
more agent or agents, & one or more surveyor or surveyors to be sta- 
tioned at the most convenient place, for the sale & survey of lands to be 
bought & sold by the company. 

The Board of Managers shall have power to purchase for & on acc't 
of the Co. any lands in Pa. particularly those lying in the tract of district 
of county above described, (provided always that the quantity belong- 
ing to Co. shall not exceed 1,000,000 acres) on the lowest price and the 
best terms they can obtain them, consistently with the real interests of 
the Co. 

9. The title to all such lands shall be vested in the President of the 
Board of Managers for the use of the Co., who shall execute a declara- 
tion of trust to be deposited in the Bank of the U. S., subject only to 



138 Appendix 

the occasional calls of the Boai-d of Managers clulj^ met to transact bus- 
iness, for the purpose of making additions thereto, as purchases are made 
& in order to show the same to share-holders or purchasers when 
required. 

10. The Board of Managers shall have authority to sell or contract, 
either by themselves or by means of their agents, for the sale of any 
lands or lots belonging to the company with such purchasers as shall 
agree to become settlers or shall engage to place settlers on the lands 
or lots they purchase. The price to the first purchases, or those who 
purchase within one year, shall not be less than $2 per acre nor shall 

more than acres- be sold to any one person. The purchasers may 

have credit for 5 yrs., paying interest to commence the 3rd year at the 
rate of 6 per ct. per annum on the amounts for which they take credit. 
Purchasers paying ready money shall have a discount of 2 yrs. on the 
amount they pay & also a discount of interest for the unexpired time 
of 2 yrs if they make payments after the purchase and previous to the 
expiration of 2 yrs. 

11. The President for the time being, shall in presence of the Board 
of Managers, execute all deeds of conveyance to the purchasers of which 
proper record shall be kept by the Secretary in a book to be opened by 
him for the purpose, which book shall be produced at every meeting of 
the board. 

12. The board or their agents may covenant to make title to the pur- 
chasers when the paynaents are completed, or title may be granted im- 
mediately & mortgage taken to secure the payment of the bonds. 

DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY. 

13. The Secretary shall attend every meeting of the Board of Man- 
agers, he shall keep regular minutes of their proceedings, he shall sum- 
mon such meetings when directed by the President or upon application 
of any two or more members of the Board or upon application of 20 
share-holders, by sending a notice in writing to the President and each 
member, mentioning the time and place of such meeting. 

14. A^acancies which may happen in the Board of Managers by death, 
resignation or removal to a distance of any member or members may 
be supplied by an election of the board for the remainder of the year, 
until the next general election bj^ the share-holders. 

15. The Board of Managers shall have power to make use of the Bank 
of the U. S. instead of a treasurer, if they find upon experiment that they 
can make it answer the purpose; if not, they . may choose a treasurer 
who shall be paid for his services,- & give security for the fiathful dis- 
charge of his trust. He % shall deposit all the monies of the Co. in the 
bank for the use of the Co. which shall only be drawn out at such times 
& in such sums as the Board of Managers may direct; and he shall safely 
keep all notes, bonds & mortgages & other obligations of the Co. He 
shall collect all monies for the same as they become due & place the 
sums he so collects in the bank in manner aforesaid. 

16. The Board of Managers shall cause a set of books* to be opened 
& kept (by the treasurer if they shall choose one, or by the Secretary 
if they have no Treasurer) wherein shall be regularly entered a proper 
account fo all the purchases, of all the sales, of all monies received and 
paid, of all notes, bonds & mortgages & specialties of every sort & kind, 
& of all expenditures, & these acc'ts shall be so settled & adjusted, and 
an abstract thereof shall together with said books, be laid before the 
share-holders at every annual meeting to be held for the purpose of elect- 
ing the Board of Managers, & at every such naeeting the Board of Man- 
agers shall give a full & fair acc't of their proceedings & of the actual 
state of the Co's affairs entrusted to them. 

17. The Board of Managers shall provide an office in the city of 
Philadelphia wherein to hold their meetings, & the Secretary shall at- 
tend on such days in each week and hours in those days as the Board 
may direct, for the purpose of laying before any share-holder that may 



*These books are now in the x>ossession of the "writer and in Pennsylvania State 
Archives. 



Appendix 139 






O^J-«iL*^<a-<Jj^ 



desire it, the book of minutes, the book of acc'ts, & to give such other 
information respecting the estate and affairs of the Co. as will convey 
a true idea of the actual situation.* 

HOW TRANSFERS ARE TO BE MADE 

18. The certificate for shares or actions shall be transferable at the 
pleasure of the holder, but the transfers must be made by the holder in 
person, or by his atty, at the office of the Board of Managers in presence 
of the Secretary who shall keep a record of all such transfers in a book 
to be kept for that purpose, which transfer shall be signed by the person 
so transferring, who shall also deliver up the old certificate & new ones 
shall be issued to the same am't to the transferee 

19. The Board of Managers shall employ all monies rec'd in the pur- 
chase of lands or in paying for what they have until their contracts & 
engagements shall be performed and fulfilled; after which they shall 
declare & pay such dividends every year, or oftener if sums are rec'd 
to make it worth while to the stock-holders as will absorb the am't 
of their receipts to the time of such declaration. 

20. The Board of Managers shall cause a statement of the Go's pur- 
chases & sales to be made out & printed every six mos. which shall show 
the quantity of land purchased to that time, <fe the prices pd for the 
same also the quantity sold to that time and the prices obtained, so that 
a fair estimate can be made of what remains, and of the rising value 
thereof; one copy of said statement shall be regularly transnaitted to 
each share-holder agreeably to the address which he shall leave at the 
Go's oftlce. 

21. This Go. shall exist for 15 yrs, and at the end of that time, all 
remaining lands, bonds, notes, debts & other property of the Go. shall 
be sold for cash only, at public auction under the direction of the Board 
of Managers the premises being first advertised for G consecutive months 
in the public newspapers of most note in Pa, & such other of the states 
as the Board shall think necessary, fixing the time and place of holding 
said sale. 

22. "Within 60 days after such sale, the whole acc'ts of said Go. shall 
be made up & closed <fe the whole balance shall be equally divided 
amongst the number of shares, & such dividend shall then be payable 
to every share-holder upon demand at the bank of the U .S. or such 
other bank as the Board may then appoint & announce in the news- 
papers. 

Here follows the i:sual covenants, each party binding himself in the 
sum of $1,000,000 to faithfully carry out these articles and they are 
signed by the parties — Rob-ert Morris & John Nicholson, in presence of 
John Keating & Garrett Cottringer, April 22, 1794. 

Feb. 21, 1795, it was resolved to pay a dividend of 6 per ct. per annum 
)n each action estimated at $500, & in case sufficient monies were not 
•ec<=-ived to make these payments, the board was to borrow enough to 
enable them to make the payt. 



*Adam Hoops business address after he left Asylum was No. 81 North Sixth St. Per- 
haps there were offices of the Asyhim Comi>any at different times. 



140 Appendix 

list of original purchasers 

Martin I. GrifRn gives the following- list, source unknowm, not found by 
the writer. He says: "The original purchasers of land who had made 
contracts even prior to the formal establishnaent of the Companj^ were 
reported by John Keating- at a meeting of the managers on June 20, 
17 94, as follows: 

Name Acres Name Acres 

Mafl^rom 3,000 Blacons 6,000 

Carles 1,000 Colin 6,000 

Carles Freres l.OO'O Gerbur 600 

De Moulelan 1,00 Sibert 500 

Buzard 4,000 Bercy 500 

Palyart 500 Sidsbat 6,000 

MontuUS 7,400 Cadignan 6,000 

Bonnet 6,000 Noailles 4,000 

Beldsloin 3,00 FrSnel 6,00 

Cottineau 2,000 Marrisback 1,000 

Boulogne 1,000 ' Pere Seraphim 5,000 

Talon 3,000 

These acres were bought for ten shillings an acre, provided that during 
the first three years not less than $100 per thousand acres were expended 
in improvenients. The managers ratified the contracts thus made, but 
fixed a period Avithin which the privilege thus secured should be availed 
of, and ordered that the lands be assigned by lot. General Victor Collott, 
the exiled Governor of Guadaloupe, attended this meeting and expressed 
his desire to purchase one thousand acres for himself and nine thousand 
acres for his friends. The managei-s then resolved, in consequence of 
the increased demands in Europe as well as America, that the price be 
increased to $3 an acre, and notice to that effect -w'as sent to Cadig-nan. 
In Jaaiuary, 1795. the first dividend of $15 a share was paid the stock- 
holders (whose names Grilfin gives in his "Colony of French Catholics"). 
In July, 1796, a second dividend of the same amount Avas declared. In 
May, 17 95, the colonists sent a petition to the Board of Managers, sketch- 
ing- some measures and improA'ements AA'hich AA'Ould be adA-antageous to 
them and a benefit to the company. The signatures to this petition AA'ere 
all ki:iOAA'n residents at Asylum. The list of first share holders is almost 
entirely made up of St. Domingo refugees*. Griflin also records that 
at the time of Rochefoucauld's A'isit, John Keating notified the managers 
that the distinguished A'isitor intended to encourage emigration, and 
AA'ished to purchase land for himself, his family and friends. The lands 
subscribed for Avere on the folloAA'ing creeks. Roaring, Lycoming, Loyal 
Sock, Muncy, Fishing, Towanda, Big Run, Little Fishing, Bowman's, 
Pine and other Avaters in Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming-, Columbia. Brad- 
ford, Shamokin and Northumberland Counties, as they AA'ere then or 
since named. In Luzerne the land AA-as in tAventA--four tracts, aggregat- 
ing. 9.5S9 acres, A-alued at ten thousand dollars. 



NEW ARTICLES, APRIL 25. 1795 

\A'hereas April 22 1794 certain articles of agreement containing- a plan 
of association of Co. stA-led the AsAium Co. AA'ere entered into between 
Robt. Morris & John Nicholson in behalf of himself & others his asso- 
ciates of the other part, as by reference thereunto may more fullA' and 
at large appear. 

e^- AVHEREAS The interests of the Associates aforesaid & also of the said 
Robert Morris in the said Co. hath been purchased by the aforesaid John 



Appendix 141 

Nicholson whereby the right of the whole invested in the said Nicholson 
except as to the number of shares which have been heretofore sold.* 
& WHEREAS the capital stock of the Co. consisting- of 1,000,000 acres of 
land in Pa. except so far as the same is represented by the shares here- 
tofore sold as aforesaid is now the property of the said J. Nicholson 
& WHEREAS There were sundry engagements made by the Board of Man- 
agers by the said articles constituted in behalf of the Co. part whereof 
are designed to be altered as to shares to be disposed of in future & 
others to be confirmed 

& WHEREAS other improvements in said plan are deemed necessary, it 
is agreed by and between the said John Nicholson of the one part, & 
those who shall become purchasers or holders of shares in the Asylurai 
Co. of the other part, except the holders of shares already sold who may 
not choose to commute them for certificates as hereinafter pernaitted 

1 The name plan and style of Association shall be the same as con- 
tained in the articles entered into April 22, 17 94 except so far as the 
same shall be altered, amended or supplied, and the residue of said arti- 
cles are hereby ratified «& confirmed 

2 The resolutions of the board of Aug 26. 1704 & Feb 21. 1795 shall 
be annulled 

3 The lands composing the 1.000.000 acres shall be represented by 
5 000 shares of 200 acres each, are situated in the counties of Luzerne & 
Northumberland, as the boundaries of the said Go's were established at 
the date of the articles first mentioned. 

4 Title vested in Trustees. 

. The said John Nicholson shall cause the titles to said lands to be vested 
in trustees who shall hold the same in joint tenancy in trust to convey 
the same, agreeably to these articles & the articles made & executed 
April 22. 1794 & no certificate shall issue for shares to a greater amount 
than shall represent the quantity so cenveyed to the trustees. 

5. The present trustees are Jared Ingersol, Esq., Atty Gen of the 
state of Pa. & Matthew Clarkson Mayor of the city of Phila & in case 
of the death or removal to a greater distance than 10 miles from the 
city of Phila of any trustee, or in case of resignation, another trustee 
shall be appointed by the Board of Managers & such conveyances made 
as shall vest the land in like manner in new Trustees. 

6 There shall be no purchases made of land by the Co., the monies 
arising from the sales of their property to be divided among the share- 
holders except such part as shall be deemed necessary by a unanimous 
vote of the Board of Managers to be laid out in making roads or other 
improvements to give an additional value to the residue of the property 
of the Co. 

7 All buildings & improvements on the lands of the Co. are the 
property of the Co. & to be disposed of. as the Board of Managers may 
deem best. All the debts of the Co. for those improvements or any other 
services rendered or done the Co. shall be paid out of the sales of the 
property of the Co. 

8 So much of Art. 10 as limits and directs either the price of land 
or terms of credit is annulled. 

CONDITIONS OP MEMBERSHIP 

9 Every owner of one or more shares shall become a member of this 
Co. & a party to these articles in virtue of such ownership as fully to all 
intents & purposes whatever as if such owners had actually signed & 



*Eecently, in looking over some letters of Robert Morris, to lue, I found one under date 
of April 23, 1795, addressed to Jolin Nioliolson. in whlcU he states that botli lie and Nicli- 
olson owned ninety sliares each in the Asylum Coiiii)any, valued at 0400.00 per share and 
in considering the responsibility of a shareliolder, he contends that he is not accountable 
for more than the price per share, .$400.00. 

The following paragraph Indicates that Nicholson was treating for the lands: "tl 
appears to me therefore that your offer for the lands \ras made under the existing circaim- 
stances and does not set aside the state of things iu regard to the shares." 

JOHN AV. .lOKDAN, Iiil)rarian Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 



142 Appendix 

sealed th^se presents, & cease to be so when he parts with his share or 
shares. 

SETTLEMENT OP CLAIMS 

10 When two or more persons shall claim the same land under dif- 
ferent contracts with the Board of Managers or where any person or 
persons shall claim a tract or tracts of land under contract or contracts 
with the Board of Managers & the said board shall dispute such claim, 
in such cases a suit or suits may be commenced vs the said board, in 
the Co. of Phila. in the Supreme Court of Pa. or in the federal curcuit 
Court of Pa. by the person or persons claiming, & one or more feigned 
issues joined in order to determine the rights of the parties & trials had 
thereon, in the City of Phila, and the said Board shall request the trustees 
to convey the land so claimed to the person or persons in whose favor 
such determination shall be had. (The farther part of this article defines 
at length the modes of process, &c.) 

11 All covenants articles of agreements or contracts made by the 
Board of Managers or by their agents for the sale of lands shall be to 
and in the name of the individuals composing the Board & shall be to 
them or the sirAavor of them, & the executors & administrators of such 
survivor to this intent expressly; that suits shall be brought in their 
name for the use of the said Co. (also provides for depositing contracts 
&c with the Secretary). 

12 The Trustees for the time being shall upon receiving a request in 
writing signed by the President & Board of Managers attested by the 
Secretary execute a deed or deeds of conveyance in fee simple to the 
purchaser or purchasers for any tract or tracts of land which may have 
been sold by the Board or their agents; it being 1st certified by the said 
President & attested by the Secretary in the manner as before provided 
to the said Trustees, that the consideration money hath been paid or se- 
cured to be paid, if paid that it hath been deposited in one of the banks 
to the credit of the President & Managers of this Co. if secured that 
such securities have been deposited agreeably to Art 11. 

13 The President & Managers shall be elected every year at the 
Co's office April 8 after public notice given. 

14 It is agreed by the said J. Nicholson party of the 1st part, that 
the dividend or dividends shall not be less than $30 per annum on each 
share issued under this agreement, and that if the cash arising from the 
sales does not amount to that sum, he the said party of the 1st part doth 
hereby promise and bind himself his heirs and administrators to ad- 
vance & lend to the Board of Managers such sum as may be necessary 
in addition to what they ha^^-e on hand of the Co's money to enable then; 
to pay $3 on each share, the Board of Managers granting their obliga- 
tion to the said party of the 1st part to repay said advances out of the 
1st moneys they may receive thereafter on acc't of the Co. except such 
as the said Board are obliged by article 10 to pay persons recovering vs. 
the Board & also except the monies received for a contingent fund. 

The President and Managers shall be allowed a commission of i V. % 
on the amt of sales they make, receivable by them only out of the pay- 
ments actually reed, or as the cash comes into the Co's possession, which 
commissions shall be divided in 5 equal parts 1 for the President & 1 
for each member of the Board, & each manager each year shall receive 
$100 on acct of the same. 

16 The President and Managers shall establish a mode by which div- 
idends can be paid in Europe. 

17 (Form of the certificates of stock.) 

18 The members of the old Co. may at their option transfer their 
stock to the new, otherwise their rights are not impaired. 

19 (Method of Altering or Amending the plan.) 



Appendix 



143 






%xi\t\%% % 



OF 



m» 



\ AGREEMENT 1 



AND 



aiSjQfoctatton 



OF THE 



W^^ A5YLUM COMPANY. 




ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT & ASSOCIATION. 

Made & executed the 2 6th day of October Ad 18 01 between the members 
of the Asylum Company. 

Whereas the Asylum Company as constituted of articles, dated April 
22, 1794 & improved by articles dated April 25, 1795 "'k duly recorded 
could not be perfected in the manner therein proposed, in consequence 
of the inability of Robert Morris and the late John Nicholson to perforna 
their covenants therein contained, arising from pecuniary embarass- 
ments & judgments obtained against them and the subscribers hereto 
have been in consequence compelled to preserve and protect their rights 
and interests in the said company by purchase made and about to be made 
at the Marshal's sale for the district of Pa whereby all the interest and 
estate belonging to the said Co. excepting the proportion of 739 shares 
therein, are fully and completely vested in us — We do for ourselves and 
each of us our and each of our heirs, executors, administrators, & as- 
signs mutually covenant, promise, grant c& agree each with the rest & 
with other in the manner following, that is to say, 

Article 1. That for the purpose of advancing and consolidating the 
interests of all concerned in the purchase aforesaid as well as of those 
who are holders of the said 739 shares — the whole estate and interest 
so purchased or which may hereafter be purchased, shall be divided into 
12 61 equal parts or shares, each of which shall be represented by a cer- 
tificate thereof, in such form as the Managers herein after mentioned 
shall declare & establish, & shall be held in the following proportions 
or numbers, that is to say 



Archibald McCall 
James Gibson 
William Cramond 
John Ashley 



shares 

23 Wm. Cramond 

70 Louis de Noailles 

20 8 Abram Dubois 

32 9 Robert Porter 



shares 
221 
95 
54 

54 



837 



424 
S37 



1261 total 

But such of the foregoing, as claim under shares actually issued under 
the former Co. shall transfer & deliver up the certificates of such shares 
prior to receiving certificates under this association. 

Article II. That the holders of the said 73 9 shares shall be entitled 



144 Appendix 

to exchange the same within such time, and in such manner as the man- 
agers under this Association may limit and direct, for an equal number 
under this Association, upon transferring the same with all the right 
title & interest under the aforesaid articles for the benefit of this Asso- 
ciation, & the shares so issued in exchange shall in all respects be on the 
same footing as the rest derived from the said purchase. 

Article HI. That each share issued under this association, which shall 
be denominated the Asylum Company shall represent & entitle the holder 
to that portion of interest in the same that such share bears to the whole 
number issued, so that in case all the said 739 shares shall be exchanged 
then the whole number under the same shall be 20 00 shares &. each 
share represent & entitle the holder to a 2000th part of the phole capi- 
tal stock of the Association. 

Article IV. That the legal title to the lands of this Association shall 
be vested as heretofore in 2 or more trustees, who shall hold the same 
in joint tenancy, in trust to convey the same to purchasers and others, 
agreeably to the articles & in case of the death, resignation or removal 
of them, or either of them, to a greater distance than 10 miles from the 
city of Phila. the Board of Managers shall supply the place of such 
Trustee or Trustees by appointing another or others & such conveyances 
shall be made as shall vest the titles in the new Trustee or Trustees, in 
the same manner as they were in the former & so on toties quoties. 

Article V. All the concerns and interests of this Association shall be 
conducted & managed by five persons to be annually chosen by and from 
among the shareholders, who shall form a Board of Managers. The 
said Board shall elect one of their number President. The President & 
1 manager or 3 managers in the absence of the President shall consti- 
tute a quorum to transact all business except the sale or purchase of 
any property of, or for this Association which shall require the consent 
of 4 of the Board. 

Article VI. The managers shall be chosen by the share holders in 
person or by proxy annually on the 2nd Monday in Jan. at the Go's 
office. The election shall commence at the hour of 10 A. M. & public 
notice thereof shall be given at least 15 days before the election — the 
number of votes to which each share holder shall be entitled at every 
election shall be according to the number of shares he shall hold in the 
proportions following that is to say 

For 1 share and not more than 2 — 1 vote. 
For every 2 shares above 2 & not exceeding 10 — 1 vote 
4 " " 10 " " 30 — 1 " 

6 " " 30 " " 60 — 1 " 

8 " " 60 " " 100 — 1 " 

" 10 " " 100 " " . . . — 1 " But 

no share holder shall be entitled to more than 30 votes & no share shall 
confer the right of suffrage unless held three calendar months before 
the election. For the remainder of the present year and until the next 
election William Cramond, John Ashley, Louis de Noailles, John Travis 
& James Gibson shall be & they are hereby appointed managers of this 
Association. 

Article VII. The Board of Managers shall have power to settle and im- 
prove, to sell & dispose of the land, property and stock of this Association, 
in such manner & upon such terms as they shall from time to time think 
proper, & where any claims of title by others may interfere with those 
of this Association they may compound, compromise & settle the same 
by relinquishing the claims of the Association or otherwise & direct 
such instrunaents to be executed by the trustees as may be necessary to 
carry such settlement into complete effect (The Board of Managers fix 
rates and receive shares in payment) & the said Board of Managers 
shall generally have power to do & perform all such acts & things & 
employ such persons as may be needful & necessary for carrying into 
effect the designs of this Association. 

Article VIII. The Board of Managers shall for the purposes aforesaid, 
have power from time to time to raise such sums of money as they may 
judge necessary by equal rates, or assessment on the shares, and the 



Appendix 145 

sum so from time to time rated on eacli share, shall be published in one 
or more daily papers in the City of Philadelphia for thirty days, to give 
the share-holder notice thereof. And all shares on which such assess- 
ments shall remain unpaid six- months from the expiration of the said 
thirty days, shall be thereby forfeited, and so much thereof (but not less 
than one share) as shall be necessary to pay such assessment and charg- 
es, shall be sold for the benefit of the association and if purchased by 
the Managers shall be held in trust for the Association, in the manner 
mentioned in the last article. 

Article IX. The Board of Managers shall appoint a Secretary at such 
salary as they may fix, & also such Agents Surveyors & other officers & 
at such compensations as they from time to time shall fix and determine. 
Article X. The Secretary shall attend the meetings of the Board of 
Managers, he shall keep regular minutes of their proceedings; he shall 
summon such meetings when so directed by the President, or upon appli- 
cation of any two or more members of the Board, or upon application 
in writing of etm^ five persons holding more than twenty shares, by send- 
ing a notice in writing to the President and each member, mentioning 
the time and place of such meeting. 

Article XI. The Board of Managers shall cause a set of books to be 
opened and kept by the Secretary wherein shall be regularly entered a 
proper account of all the purchases, of all sales, of all monies received 
and paid, all notes, bonds, mortgages and specialties, or notes of every 
sort and kind, and of all expenditures; and these accounts shall be so 
settled and adjusted as that an abstract thereof shall together Avith the 
said books, be laid before the shareholders at every annual meeting, 
to be held for the purpose of electing managers; and at every such meet- 
ing, the Board of Managers shall give a full and fair account of their 
proceedings and of the actual state of the Company's estate and of the 
affairs entrusted to them. 

Article XII. The Board of Managers shall provide an office in the 
city of Phila. where their meetings shall be held, & the Secretary shall 
attend on such days in each week & hours of those days as the Board 
may direct for the purpose of laying before any shareholder who may 
desire it, the book of minutes, the books of accounts & to give such 
other information respecting the estate & affairs of the Co as will con- 
vey a true idea of their actual situation. 

Article XIII. The compensation of the managers shall be fixed by 
the shareholders at an • annual meeting and when once fixed shall so 
remain until altered at a subsequent annual meeting stich compensation, 
however, in no case shall exceed five hundred dollars per annum for 
each manager. 

Article XIV. Vacancies which may happen in the Board of Managers 
by death resignation or removal, of one or more members to a greater 
distance than ten miles from the City of Philadelphia may be supplied 
by an election of the Board for the remainder of the time for which the 
former manager was elected. 

Article XV. All the monies of the Association shall be deposited as 
received in one or all of the Banks in the city of Philadelphia, to the 
credit of the Association and shall be drawn therefrom only by checks, 
signed by the Secretary and countersigned by two of the managers. 

Article XVI. The certificates for shares shall be transferable at the 
pleasure of the holders, the transfer must be made in person or by an 
attorney in the presence of the Secretary in a book to be kept for that 
purpose to be signed by the person transferring & a memorandum there- 
of indorsed & signed by the Secretary on the certificate. In case of lost 
certificates of shares, the Board shall prescribe the mode by which the 
same may be renewed. 

Article XVII. All monies rec'd from sales or otherwise which shall 
remain after deducting the necessary charges and expenses & reserving 
what may in the opinion of the Managers be necessary for the current 
expenditures & incidental charges shall be divided equally among the 
shareholders of which the Managers shall give public notice. 

Article XVIII. Kvery holder of one or more shares, by transfer or 



146 Appendix 

exchange of the shares of the old Co. shall thereby become a party to 
these Articles as fully to all intents & purposes whatever, as if such 
holder had actually signed & sealed these presents, & cease to be so 
when he parts with his share or shares. 

Article XIX The trustees for the time being shall upon receiving a 
request in writing signed by the Board of Managers & attested by the 
Secretary convej' such real estate or property vested in them as may be 
mentioned in such request & in manner as therein desired. 

Article XX. The capital stock of this Association consists of all the 
land conveyed under the former articles, at that time supposed to consist 
of a million acres, for the whole of which warrants have been obtained 
from the state. As the whole of this amount may not.be obtained from 
the interfering claims of others, the managers may, if they think it 
advantageous to the Co. purchase lands to supply any deficiency in this 
quantity, provided such purchases in addition to the quantity ascertained 
to belong to the Association shall not exceed 1.000.000 of acres. 

Article XXI. This Association shall continue for 15 years & at the 
end of that time all remaining land, bonds, notes, debts & other property 
of the Association shall be sold for cash of approved notes, not exceed- 
ing 90 days at public auction under the direction of the Board of Man- 
agers the premises being first advertised for 6 succeeding months in one 
or more newspapers of Phila., N. Y. & Baltimore, fixing the time & 
place for holding the said sale. 

Article XXII. Within 6 months after such sale all the accounts of the 
said Association shall be made out & closed, & the whole balance shall 
be equally divided among the number of shares, & such dividend shall 
then be payable to every share holder upon demand, at the Bank of the 
U. S. or such other Bank as the said Board may then appoint & an- 
nounce in the newspapers. 

In witness whereof the parties to these presents have interchangeably 
set their hands and aflixed their seals the day & year first above written. 

Sealed & delivered in 
presence of 
.Tohn Markoe 
William Nicholson 
William Cramond (L. S.) 

Louis de Noailles (L. S. ) 

Abraham Dubois (L. S.) 

Robert Porter (L. S.) 

Archibald McCall (L. S.) 

James Gibson (L.. S.) 

James Cramond (L. S.) 

John Ashley {'L. S.) 

On the 2 6th day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred & one, before me Edward Shippen Esq Chief Justice of 
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania personally appeared William 
Cramond, Louis de Noailles, Abraham Dubois, Robert Porter, Archibald 
McCall, James Gibson & John Ashley in the above written articles of 
agreement & Association named, and in all due form of law asknowl- 
edged the same to be their and each of their act and Deed and desired 
that it may be recorded as such. Witness my hand and seal the day & 
year aforesaid. 

EDWARD SHIPPEN, (L. S.) 

Since publication of first edition, we have become familiar with the 
Minute Book of the Asylum Company of 1801, recording meetings from 
1802-1804 with some later entries. Contrary to some- statements that 
de Noailles severed his connection with the enterprise, these minutes 
show that he was a shareholder and active manager as long as he lived 
in Philadelphia. Although the first recorded meeting is April 7, 1802, 
there are a few earlier entries from 1796-1799 signed by de Noailles. 

The first meeting was mainly to arrange for transfers of old for new 
shares according to the articles of association of Oct. 26, 1801, and the 
granting of new certificates of stock. At the next meeting May 16, 1802, 



Appendix 147 

Samuel Baircl, surveyor, was employed to explore the Company's land. 
There are long lists of shares with autographic signatures of sharehold- 
ers or their representatives. Numbers begin with 484, showing that the 
original Asylum plot was not included. The largest shareholder at this 
period was James Cramond. The President of the Company was John 
Ashley, and de Noailles was acting nianager until he left the country. 

April 28, 1803. 
At a meeting of the Share Holders on this day the following gentlemen 
were elected managers for the ensuing year: William Cramond, Jno. 
Ashley, Jno. Travis, Archd. McCall, James Gibson. 

Monday, July 18, 1803. 

Board met. Present: A. McCall, Pres,; Jno. Ashley, W. Cramond, 
Jno. Ti-avis, James Gibson, Managers. 

The Secretary Reported that he had received a letter from Samuel 
Baird mentioning his having gone over and Surveyed 2 6,6 00 Acres on 
the iMiddle Branch of Tawandie and 18400 aicreis on the North side of 
Tawandie which last 'body he had subdivided into smaller Tracts and 
on which there were about 2 5 Settlers who evinced a disposition to pur- 
chase — The Board taking into view this circumstance and the impor- 
tance of sending Mr. Baird early out again to employ the Season in ex- 
ploring and subdividing the remaining Tra,ots; Resolved, that for the 
purpose of enabling Mr. Baird to pursue the business as early as possible 
a loan be obtained of the Bank of the United States of 2000 dollars on 
a note to be drawn by the Secretary in favor of the President and in- 
diorsed by him and the other Managers, and that in case it should be 
necessary to repay the said loan before the Company is in funds for the 
purpose that each of the parties to it will contribute towards the same 
in the proportion of the shares now held by each person. 

Dec. 30, 1803. 

Board met. Present: A. McCall, Jno. Ashley, W. Cramond, James 
Gibson. 

Two letters from Samuel Baird one dated 24 Ins. and the other 28 
Ins. were presented and Read. The Board requested the Secretary to 
write to Daniel Sniith on the subject of his claim to the Asylum Lands 
and to propose an amicable action to, be entered in the County of Phila. 
in the Supreme Court to determine the Claim. 

Applications of Ezra Spalding and Dominic Kingsberry were made 
requesting loans to enable them to erect mills — Whereupon Resolved 
that the Board will advance $200 to each on a loan for three years with 
Interest to be paid them when the Mills are in that state of forwardness 
as in the opinion of Mr. Baird to justify the advance which is then to 
be secured by Mr. Gage. 

The Secretary produced a draft of a Deed of Exchange to be executed 
by the Holders of the Shares under the two former associations; to be 
executed by those who write to accept the proposal made in the last 
Association, which being approved of, the B'oard Resolved that the same 
be adopted, and the Secretary was directed to cause a number to be 
printed for the use of the Compy. 

The Board further Resolved that the Shares under the Association 
formed in October 1801 be issued to the persons entitled to receive the 
same, upon such persons transferring and giving up for the use of the 
Company the rights by which they claim their Shares and the payment 
of 22 dollars on each share by those who have not yet paid. 

March 30, 1804. 

The Board met. Present: Archibald McCall, President; Jno. Ashley, 
James Gibson, Managers. 

Mr. Baird attended the Board and informed that 5 Patents and 160 
Warrants belonging to the Company remained in the Secretary's office 
for fees. Whereupon Resolved that the Secretary pay the fees due 
upon the Patents and take them from the office. Mr. Baird stated that 
$539.02 were due for fees upon the Warrantsi, which being unsatisfied 



148 Appendix 

wam^ants and the Comptroller having published aboutem to the public in 
respect to the claim of the Commonwealth on Mr. Nicholson's Estate it 
was further Resolved that for the present no further proceeding be had 
as to these. 

Mr. Baird further suggested the propriety of making enquiries into 
the situation of the Land of the Company purchased of Musssr and 
Grant which consisted of 3 6 Tracts in which Grant claims Vg part — 32 
ditto in which he claims $4,000 and also upwards of 100 Tracts which 
were disputed with Wilson and Thomas when a compromise was made 
with Thomas The Board Resolved that Mr. Baird be requested to de- 
sire Mr. Grant to procure and forward them full information on this 
subject and also to enquire of Mr. Morris whether he has any papers 
which can elucidate this Transaction. 

Mr. Baird was further requested to make enquiry into the State of 
2 5 Tracts purchased of William P. Brady on Hunters or Elk Lake and 
report thereon. 

Mr. Baird v/as also requested to report the Situation of 5 Tracts on 
Fishing Creek moiuntain on which Will'am Montgomery claimed Is. per 
acre and the surveying fees and state the particulars of his claim with 
his (Mr. Baird's) opinion thereon — and the value of the Land. 

An application was received from Reed Brockaway and Timothy Alden 
to purchase 14 00 acres on the head waters of Loyalsoek and Tawandie 
whereup'on Resolved, that the request ca.nnot be complied with. 

The Board being of opinion that it would much conduce to the benefit 
of the Company to consolidate all the Interests held under the former 
Associations into the present as contemplated in the 2d Article of this 
Association: Resolved that Messrs Ashley and Gibson' be a Committee 
to prepare and Report an Instrument for the Holders of the Shares 
under the former Associations to execute for this purpose and prepare 
also a Circular to inform them of this Resolution. 

August 15, 1904. Committee report Certiticates of shares ready for 
distribution on application. 

The Board resolved that the 3 00 shares held in trust for the company 
and deposited with the secretary, be sold by public sale to raise money 
to pay dividends on residue of shares. 

Nov. 6, 1804. Meeting held. Board decides to prepare a circular let- 
ter, requesting shareholders to exchange old for new shares and arrange 
to pay dividend. 

Dec. 2 0, 1804, is the last recorded meeting, no particular business. 
There is a partial list of stockholders, the last signature being that of 
John Keating, March 7, 180 5. There are many names here of which 
we have no other record, several being of foreign banking companies 
or syndicates. 

Jan. 8, 1810, a meeting was held at 17 6 Chestnut St., to elect managers. 
John Read, Secretary. 

In 1819 the Lands of Stock of the Asylum Company were offered for 
sale at the Merchants' Coffee House. 

In 1822 there was what was afterwards recorded as a "clearing up sale" 
and distribution of the capital stock of the late Asylum Co., the 
bonds, mortgages and real estate being made over to Archibald McCall, 
James Gibson, John Ashley, Thomas Astley, who were made Trustees of 
the contingent fund of the late Asylum Company, for the benefit of the 
contributors. In 1843 what was left of the lands described as "lying 
on the headwaters of Mehoopany and Loyalsoek," 2 5 tracts, was sold to 
William Jessup of Montrose, Pa., for $2500. He subsequently conveyed 
the same to Michael Meylert. It is said all remaining papers relating to 
Asylum were burned in the Meylert house or office, but the evidence in 
this volume proves that many records were elsewhere preserved. 



Appendix 149 

The annexed autographic letter is reproduced by the courtesy of J. G. 
Rosengarten. 

John Nicholson, Esq.: 

Dear Sir: 

When you received ninety shares in the Asylum Company & I sold 
the same number valued at $400 per share, if the accts. had been regu- 
larly kept this would have appeared <& had I given away mine or sold 
them for ever so much money I apprehend I should only have been 
accountable for $400 per share, and in like manner whatever was the 
value when the 460 shares were issued to each, I can only be accountable 
for that value at which the shares are mine, for it was no part of our 
bargain when the Lands M^ere sold to you at 100% that these shares 
should be returned, nothing Avas said about them. I might have previ- 
ously sold them or otherwise disposed of them as really that is the 
case with a considerable part. It appears to me therefore that your 
offer for the lands was made under the existing circumstances & does 
not set aside the state of things in regard to the shares. 

I am your obdt. hble. servt. 




Jno. Nicholson, Esq. 23 April, 1795. 

HOLLENBACIv S CLAIM 

On an earlier page (17) we have told of finding papers concerning 
this claim among Matthias Hollenback's. He was a remarkable man of 
business, and preserved every scrap of paper relating to his affairs. As 
we write, we have at hand his own copies of his letters to Mr. Peter 
Gallaudet of Philadelphia, or rather experimental letters, as there are 
many changes and erasures. November, 17 97, he writes that he went to 
the city in September, but there was no doing anything as every body 
was out of town. He says he encloses a copy of his claim against the 
Asylum Company "stated as perticeler as I could, I believe there's nothing 
omitted. I must enter a sute the ensuing court — . You have a general 
knowledge of the business, you wrote me several letters for Mr. Talon, 
you well know how urging he was in the business to me, I often was 
obliged to quit my business, and go after his or the company's business, 
I shall not git anything of Robert Morris as he has wrote me that he 
sold out long since his share." In another letter, a few months later, he 
says Gallaudet has been to too much trouble but "I can assure you my 
claim is against the property of the company, still the greater part was 
contracted before the company was formed, or before I had any knowl- 
edge of it. I am by no means at a loss in the matter, nor have I ever 
been, only being a little delicate. I had letters to purchase them lands 
from Mr. Morris in his private capacity, and as President of that com- 
pany, also from John Nicholson. I have also two or three letters in 
your hand writing signed Talon for to make those purchases and they 
would pay costs, also one or two letters from Count Denoals (de 
Noailles) concerning the land business, but to say I have any letters from 
the President of the Asylum Company to purchase them, I have not, 
and if all should fail me, I would be sorry. Still I think it can not. I 
know enough of either Mr. Morris' or Mr. Nicholson's business in this 
country to save myself by the way of land, but that is not what I want, 
but money to defend the debt is all I wish. I thought I was faithful. 
At any rate I have Mr. Talon's thanks in your handwriting for it. I am 
not afraid to claim my just due before God & man, but to go to the 
company I cannot. They do not know me in the business nor I them, and 
to stand before them as a criminal at the bar seaking for money I shall 



150 Appendix 

not if I never gite any thing." It is easily seen that Gallaudet acted as 
interpreter and letter writer for Talon and that Hollenback's just claim 
was disputed by some clever lawyer. We find no papers between this 
date and 1813, when the old man started in again with the Asylum 
trustees as per following statement in his own handwriting. Other let- 
ters following with explanatory papers, show, the justice of the claim 
and the persistancy of the claimant. 

Philada -Feby 24th 1813 I Matl'hias Hollenback call'd on Mr. M.Call 
to Renew my Claim against the asylum Company, he told me there 
was no such a thing as an asylum Company, that the property of the 
asylum Companys property had long been sold & Bought in by those 
that they were indebted to, and that my Claim "of court could not be 
again them Still he had heard of my Claim & that he would think of 
it & mention it to the Board &<c. 

To the President and Managers of the Asylum Company, 
Gentlemen: 

I must again repeat my application to you for redress, and shall lay 
my claim before you. 

In 17 9 3, at the request of Mr. Robert Morris, I purchased for him and 
Mr. Talon the Flatts now known by the name of Asylum Flatts, and 
gave my notes for the balance due the owners of the said lands. 

In 17 94, Messrs. Morris & Nicholson, and associates Messrs. Talon and 
DeNoailles formed the Asylum Company: the capital stock consisting in 
lands purchased or to be purchased. The Asylum Flatts were given in 
and received by the Board, well informed of the above incumbrances: 
the changes made in 179 5 caused no alteration. 

In October 1801 new articles were made by divers shareholders, in 
order to protect and secure their rights; and on that account purchased 
at Marshal's sales all the estate of the said Asylum Company, excepting 
the proportion of 73 9 shares. 

The above-mentioned Notes becoming due, I had to pay them, because 
the Asylum Company had no other means of procuring money, than by 
Mr. Morris aaid Mr. Nicholson, who were successively the Presidents of 
the Company; and their difficulties were too great. Mr. Nicholson had 
even ceased paying the interest of six per cent payable to the sharehold- 
ers. — (However, in May 17 95, being Presddent, he mentioned to me that 
he, and not Mr. Morris, would settle my claim against the Company; and 
on the 2 5th of the same month, he paid nae as part of said claim $648.60 
on account of the Company. 

Owing to his embarassments, and of course to those of the Company 
on account of their connection, I could get nothing from him, nor from 
the Company, nor from Mr. Morris; and I was advised to begin a suit. 

It is evident from the above facts that I have been obliged to pay 
mone3^ for lands which the Asylum Company has held, and has even 
sold; and that it has been known to the said Company from the first that 
part of their cost was still due me. 

I have constantly and regularly laid in my claim to the Board and its 
agents. No change in its constitution can destroy or annul it; the pay- 
ment of $648.60 shews it to have been acknowledged; the proportion of 
73 9 shares is at least liable to the payment of my claim, if not even the 
whole property. It could not be the intention of the late purchasers to 
cancel any bona-fide debt, but to secure their interests without impair- 
ing that of others. 

I have long since rendered the Company my account, with the excep- 
tion of some costs; and I do now expect they will do something for me. 
I have been often and repeatedly told the Company had no funds to pay 
me or any one; and have waited until I saw and heard of the company's 
selling large tracts of Land, and receiving sums of money for them. 

I never should have stood a suit on any of my notes, but was advised 
to do so by my counsel; that a third person giving his notes w^as not 
obliged to pay, as he had received no value for them: but when he saw 
my notes, he said I would have to pay them, which I did. — And now, 
gentlemen, all I ask is the money I have advanced with the interest 



Appendix 151 

thereon. The loss of my time, as well as my expenses, I will say nothing 
about. I pray you to do something for me. I am an old man, and can- 
not travel much longer for myself or any one else; and I have a family 
depending on me for support. 

I am. Gentlemen, with due respect, 
Wilkes Barre, Your very humble servt 

Aug. 10, 1814. Matthias Hollenback. 

His last appeal, made shortly before his death, thus closes: "I wish 
the iB'oard to pay something on my claim as I do not want to leave it 
over to my son to settle though grown to manhood." 

(Copies of two of the notes referred to in the above letter) (both given 
to Charles Tovv^nley, May 28th, 1794.) 

(1) I Promise to pay unto Charles Townley or his order the sum of 
Nineteen pounds sixteen shillings and lOd good and lawful money of 
Pennsylvania, to be paid by the first day of November next after the 
date hereof. For the value received in a Tract of land Purchased for 
Viscount Noailles on Standing Stone fiatt. 

As my Hand and Seal this 28th day of — (May) — A. D. 1794. 

(Witness?) 
Joseph A. Rathbun. (Signature torn off.> 

(Assignment of the above.) 

I do assigne the within note to Richd Townley for his own use. 
Asyluni :!st Octr 1794. Charles Townlev. 

Note 19.16.10 " - 

11. 7 



20. 8. 5 



(The Second Townley Note.) 

I promise to pay unto Charles Townley the sum of Fifty Pounds, Good 
and Lawful Money of Pennsylvania, to be paid by the first day of No- 
vember which will be in the year A. D. 17 9 5, for the Value Received in 
a Tract of Land purchased of said Townley for Viscount Noailles on 
Standing Stone flatts. — As witness my hand and seal This 28th day of 
May, A. D. 1794. 

For Matthias Hollenback. 

(Seal) 
Ben. Perry. 

(Receipts and other Memoranda upon the back of Note No. 2) 

(1) Received 20th Deer 1795 two dollars on the within. 

Charles Townley. 

(2) Reed May 23d 1796 on this note three pounds eight shilling and 
sixpence. 

L. 3. 8. 6. C. Townley. 

(3) Reed May 26th 1797 of the within note three pounds P. C. (i. e. 
Pennsylvania Currency). his 

Robt X Alexander 
mark 

(4)) Reed Oct. 31st 1797, of the within note Twenty-one Pound and 
Sixpence, Pn. Cy: By me, John Harvey 

(5) (In the hand of M. H.) John Alexander says he paid — 

first three pounds 3. 0. 



then 55. 9.11 

the note is 51.16. 6 



152 



Appendix 



RECORDED AS IN WYALUSING TWP. 



Wyalusing Assessment 1796, earliest known list (Craft) with spelling 
used by Assessor: 



Brunert, Peter 

Buzarcl, Laurence 

Brovost, John 

Bigdelier, John 

Beloughne Chas (Wysock's roll) 

Colony, Mansey 

Deniene, Francis 

Dandilott, Henry 

Dutremont, Widowe 

Fronienta, Elijah 

Keeton, John 



Lafaber, Bartholomew 
Laporte, Bartholomew 
La Roue, Caz'a 
Lefeber, Lewis 
Montale, John 
Noailles, Guy 
Obray, George 
Reo, Francis 
Sebart, Sophia 
Talon, Omer 



1799 



Blacons, Laucretius 
Buzzajrd, Laurence 
Becdeliver, John 
Calling, Mansey 
Demente, Francis 
Keating 

Larou, Casimere 
Lefaver, Antony 



6 houses 



Lefaver, Lewis 
Laroue, Jas. 
Laporte, B. 
Noailles, Guy 
Hornet, Charles 
Rosset, John 
Regriei, Peter 



1800 



Bedeliver, John 

Desmesne, Francis 

Laport 

Laroue Carisime 



Bedelevere, John store & house 

Brevost, John 

Collein house & distillery 

Buzzard, Lau. gristmill 

de Noailles, Louis 

Demene, Francis 

Homet 



Lefebe, 


Ant. 


Laroue, 


Jno. 


Homet, 


Charles 


Rosset, 


John 


1801 




Laporte 




Laroue, 


C. 


Lefeber, 


L. 


Lefeber, 


A. 


Laroue, 


Jas. 


Regnier 


Peter 


Rosset 





merchant 



1802 



Bigdelavre, John 
Brevost, John 
Buzard, Laurence 
Asylum Co. 1000 acres 

unimproved land 
Collins, Mansey 
Demene, Francis 



Homet, Charles 
Leport, Bartholomew 
Lefever, Anthony 
Lefever, Louis 
Obrey, George 
Regnea, Peter 



Appendix 153 



French Accounts in Possession of Author 

Dates covering year 1794 and a few in 1795, most of them written 
in French; for examples see among illustrations one signed by 
Louis Paul d'Autremont and one signed by Talon. 



Eight signed by Dupetithouar, being certificates of work done 
at the big house, inside and out; building of shops for Charles, 
Picard and Aubrey ; fitting up ' ' the priest 's ' ' house ; cleaning 
cellar of Nores ' house ; Blanchard 's account for mason work, or 
assisting mason '^Donmead" including "one-third of a day hunt 
ing slate stones for Beaulieu's chimney;" account of kettles bought 
of Enoch Skeer for potash making ; one agreeing to pay for a 
canoe w'hicli he had borrowed and "which has been taken away 
from our landing." 

Six signed by Talon, including account of Joseph Town, car- 
penter, for building barn for Talon; same for work on Beaulieu's 
house, and barn; work on "la grande maison, " (see illustration) 
account of shop keepers and servants. 

An order on Mr. Hoops to pay M. Montulle for planks for the 
barn and other houses belonging to the company. 

Joseph Lowry gives an order on Dupetithouars calling him 
"Captain Petetiox. " 

Three receipts of Brevost for money received from "Asylum 
Company," seventy dollars of which was for clearing land sold 
him by the company. 

Two receipts for money paid by Adam Hoops to Louis Paul 
d'Autremont and one to Alexander d'Autremont. 

Receipted account of Walloia, very evidently the butler whom 
Talon dismissed. 

Several receipts for money paid by company, signed Lefebvre, 
one to M. Chedricoorte. 

Two signed by Beaulieu, accounts with Hoops. 

One signed by Aubrey, giving power of attorney to Talon to 
close up his accounts, as he was evidently leaving Asylum. 

One written in French and signed by Talon, concerning rights 
on wharf. 

One written in French and signed by Dupetithouar when leav- 
ing for Niagara with Rochefoucauld. 

1917. Many more found among Keating papers with signatures 
of different Frenchmen who had shops or inns at Asylum. 



154 Appendix 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Balcli, The French in America. 
Brack, Recollections 1771-1862. 
Bulow, Travels in America, 17 96. 
Biographic Unlverselle, pub. Paris, 1822. 

Cass, France, Her King and Her People. 

Craft, History of Bradford County. 

Crevecoeur, Voyage dans la Haute Pennsylvania, 1801. 

DeCourcy, History Catholic Church in America, 1856. 
De Noailles, Marins et Soldats Francais en Amerique. 

Griffin, Catholic Historical Magazine. 
Gerydon, Memoirs, 1811. 
Guizot, History of France. 

Hoefer, Biographic Generale, 18 64. 

Lacombe, La Vie Privee de Talleyrand. 
Liancourt, Travels in America, 1795-6-7. 

Michaude, Biographic. 

Morris, Gouverneur, Letters and Journal. 

Pontgibaud, French Volunteer in the War of Independence. 
Rosengarten, French Colonists and Exiles in the United States, 1907. 

Shea, Translation of De Courcy. 
Soixante Ans de A^ie de Peuple. 
Talleyrand, Memoirs. 

Turquan, Les Femmes de I'Emigration, 1913. 
Twining, Travels in America. 

Wansey, Journal of an Excursion to the U. S., 1794. 
Weld, Travels Through the States of America, 1795-6-7. 
Wilson, The Foresters, 1804. 

OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION 

Collections of Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 

Papers in Pennsylvania State Archives. 

County Records of Luzerne and Bradford. 

Old Tax Lists. 

Contemporary Newspapers. ^ 

Matthias Hollenback's letters and papei'S. 

John Keating's letters and papers. 

Many receipted bills of work done in the colony, in possession of 
author; source unknown. 

Family Records and Traditions of Laporte, Homet, Lefevre, Prevost, 
d'Autremont, Keating, Welles, Stevens, Brown, Moody and Biles. 

Asylum Account Books in possession of the author, and in Harrisburg. 

Notes made by Rev. David Craft in Craft Collection, Tioga Point 
Museum. 

Letters in Collection of Gilbert S. McClintock. 

New sources of information made known by courtesy of J. G. Rosen- 
garten. 



INDEX 



Asylum planned for King and Queen, 12; search for location, 12; purchase 
concluded, 18; town plotted, description of plot, 19; original map 
reproduced, inside back cover; Rochefoucauld's description, 38-43 

Asylum Accounts, in possession of author, 153; in Dept. of Archives, 38- 
44; Harrisburg, 63; Reproduction, 64 

Account books, 63-79 

Asylum, Various printed accounts of, 87-93. 

Asylum Certificates, inside of cover; description, 1 

Asylum Co. organized, 20; Articles of Association, 20, 137-160; descrip- 
tion from old deed, 21; Minute Book, 20, 158; final public sale of 
lands and stock, 148; last Board meeting, 146; sale of residue of 
lands to William Jessup and transfer to Michael Meylert, 148 

Asylum location with map, 13; how to reach it, 60; how permanent twp. 
was formed, 60; condition in 1809-1824-1836, 60; boulder and tablet 
erected, 61 

Azilum, French rendering of nanie, 5 5-5 6 

Asylum Peters, slave born at Asylum, 59 

Accounts, 38-44, 63, 64, 153; showing derivation of title Azilum, 5 6 

Account Books, 63-79 

After life of Azilum settlers, 58-59 

Altar stone for Chapel, purchase of, 46, 71. 

Amnesty granted by Napoleon, permitting return of exiles, 57 

Amusements of French, 

Arrival at location of first workmen, 23; of first settlers, 27 

Autichamp, Asylum settler, distinguished himself at Yorktown, 59 

Autographs of various settlers, 62 

Articles of household ware brought from France, 2 8 

Autograph letter Robert Morris concerning original shares, 149 

B 

Bastille destroyed, 2; key sent to Washington, 6 

Beaulieu, 36, 40, 58, 59, 71, 75; reproduction of accounts, 76. 

Bec-de-hevre, 36, 40, 47, 58 

Bibliography, 154 

Birney Henry, Connecticut settler at Azilum before the Revolution, 15 

Bingham, "Wm., interested Phila. capitalist, 7 

Bill of lading, reproduction, 73 

Blacons, first marriage at Asyl-um, kept shop, then inn, 40; returned to 
France and suicide, 58 

Blanchard, 59 

Boulder, erected in 1916, 61 

Boulogne, Chas. F. Bue, Agent for American lands in France, chosen by 
Talon to explore, 12; reports favorably on location, 17, 23; made first 
agent, 17, 22; purchases farm, 15; letters to Hollenback, 17, 18, 23, 
24, 25, 65, 66; Chenango venture, 69; reproduction promissory note 
for Co., 67; death and inventory of belongings, 77-79 

Brevost, John C, first settler at Chenango, 41; last to leave Asylum, 
established school, 58; goes to Ceres, 5 8 

Bridlepath, cut in 1794, 19 

Brule, Btienne, first explorer of Susquehanna, 13 

Brunart, Pierre, receipt, 7 9 

Building of the town; houses, shops, school, chapel, theatre, 27 

Bulow, 87 

Buzard, 40, 58. 



Cadignan, Baron de, Col. of St. Domingo Regt., engaged at Yorktown, 

original and large shareholder, 1, 59 
Carles, Abbe, 41, 58 

Cemetery, old French, location of, 47 

Chapel, 45 ' 

Colin, Abbe, 40, 58; accounts with reproduction, 71, 72; purchases altar 

stone, 71 
Colony's forlorn existence, 5 5 

Connecticut Claim, to proposed purchase, 14; to adjacent lands, 42 
Cottineau, original share holder, 34, 35; wonderful Revolutionary record, 

35;, 59 
Cash, large sums provided, 71 

D 

d'Autremont, first settler at Chenango; later Asylum, 18, 41; biography 
and genealogy, 112-123; portraits, 114, 116, 117; letter to Boulogne, 
54; account writted "Azilum," 56; coat of arms, 112; French histo- 
rian's opinion of Mme. d'Autremont, 52 

Dandelot, a French officer, 41 

DeCourcy, Henry, letters and statements, 45, 46 
45, 46 

Deed Records, early, 15 

Deductions made from old ledgers, 69 

De Noailles, prominent French nobleman, in onr Revolution, 9, 10, 11; 
plans royal asylum, 12; visits location, 23; guards interests in Phil- 
adelphia, 23; mentioned by Pontgibaud, 91; full biography, 97-103; 
portrait, 9; autograph letter, 2 3 

De Seibert, deed describing house purchased by 35; further mention, 40 

De Villaines, brother-in-law of Talon, distinguished French officer, 44, 95 

Difficulties, in obtaining supplies and transportation, 22; cash, 33; due to 
advance of winter, 25; arising from contempt of Yankees, 43 

Dupetithouar, distinguished P"'rench sailor, 41; first arrival at Asylum, 
17; portrait and life story, 48-51; return to France and glorious 
death, 57 

Dushore, founding of and name, 48-49 

Durham boats only means of transportation, 22 

E 
Entries from ledger of great interest, 68 et seq. 



Famous Visitors to Asylum, 80-86 

France, America's friend in pre-Revolutionary times and in war, 51 

Franklin, Benj. French estimate of, 5 

French Revolution, beginning, causes, iirogress, 2-4 

French ladies drawing-room, 3 4 

French Princes at Asylum, 83-86 

French Cemetery, 47; • 

French choppings and clearings, 52; ferry, 3 6 

Fromentin, priest, said to be acting at Asylum, 45, 46; later history, 5S 

G 

Gouverneur Morris, 6, 7, 28 

Graydon, Alex., Memoirs telling of Asylum settlers, 8 8 

Grist mill, 47 

Griffin, Martin, Catholic historian, 45, 47 

Girard, friendly to French exiles, 7 

H 

Hagerman, present owner of Talon's site, 32; Hagerman House, 57 
Hamilton, Alex., Opinion of France's part in our Revolution, 5 
Historical Society of Pennsj^vania has valuable Asylum records, 20 



Hollenback, Matthias, actively interested in founding colony, 12, 13, 16; 

letters to, 12, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 65, 66 
Hollenback, Matthias, portrait reproduced by courtesy of Mrs. Nelson A. 

Welles, 90 
HoUenback's Claim, 17, 149, 151 
Hornet, Charles, one of original settlers, 2 8, 57; biography and genealogy, 

17, 149, 151 
Hornet's Ferry, 14, 60 
Hoops, Adam, American soldier, chosen to accompany Boulogne on 

exploring tour, 12; reports, 17; made agent of Asylum Co, 20; his 

accounts, with reproductions, 63-77; at Ceres, 59 



Iron chest. Talon's name there, 7 
Inn keepers at Asylum, 47 



Jacobins, 6, 11 

Jessup, Wm., last purchaser of Asylum lands, 20 

Joj'^ous entry, 3 

Jefferson, Thos., friend of French exiles, 6 

K 

Keating, John, Irish Frenchman, active in founding Asylum, 1, 9, 21; 
portraits 22 and 104; journal extracts, 37; biography and geneal- 
ogy, 104-110 

L, 

Lafayette, 5, 6, 10 

Laporte, Bartliolemew, aids Talon's - escape, 9; his trusted steward at 
Asylum, 9; occupies Talon's house, 30, 32, 57; made agent, 57; biog- 
raphy and genealogy, 128, 129 

Laporte, John, 19; builds house, 57 

Laporte, Elizabeth, dedicatory page and preface, story and description 
of Queen's House, 30, 32 

Laroue, 19, 58; 

Lefevre, portrait and genealogy, 123-125 

Loyal Sock, 19, 28 

Letters, Circular from Robt. Morris, 12; to M. Hollenback of purchase, 
16; Boulogne's to Hollenback, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 65, 66; d'Autremont 
to Boulogne, 54; Noailles to Hollenback, 23; Rochefoucauld to 
Wauburket, 44 

Louis XVI, 23; last will and testament, 3-8 

Louis Philippe at Asylum, touring America, teaching in Phila., portrait, 
83-86 

M 

Marie Antoinette, portrait as frontispeice; in rabble, 3; Asylum planned 
for her, 12; hiding place in woods, guillotined, 28; picture and letter, 
29; house built for her by Talon, 30 

Missiscum, Indian name for Asylum location, 13 

Montulle, prominent settler, in charge of clearing land, 22, 40, 58, 59, 
73, 74 

Morris, Gouverneur, Minister to France, 6, 7; alludes to plot for royal 
refuge, 2 8 

Morris, Robert, financier of Revolution, 6; friend of de Noailles, 6, 7; 
proprietor in wild lands, 12; starts Asylum plan, 12, 16, 17; made 
first president Asylum Co., 20; sells out to Nicholson, 140; auto- 
graph letter concerning his interest, 149 

Mylert, Michael, last known purchaser Asylum lands, 20 

N 

National Assembly of France, 8, 11 

Nicholson, John, 1, 12, 140, 149 

Northumberland, transfer place for supplies, 12, 74 



Orders for supplies, 2 6 

Ossenepachte, Indian name for Standing Stone, 13 



Pennsylvania, only safe retreat for refugees, 6 

Philadelphia, principal resort of French refugees, 7; home of Talon 

temporarily, 9; of de Noailles for ten years, 98 
Plan for escape of French Royalty to America, 12, 28 
Pontgibaud, a French soldier, comments on Asylum, 5, 91, 9 2 
Prospect Rock, 3 3, 52 

Q 

Queen's House described and reproduced, 30-43; one in the woods, 28 

R 

Regnier, Peter, 47, 58 

Revolutionary Records of Asylum settlers, 59 

Roads, Talon's described, 3, 35, 36 

Rochefoucauld, Liancourt, French traveler, visits Asylum, 3 8, 43; letter 

to our minister from Holland (179 5) recently foun,d, 44; opinion of 

Connecticut Claim, 42 
Royal Apprentice of Smith Gamain, 7 



San Domingo, insurrection, refugees flee to U. S., bring slaves, 11 

Schufeldt, first settler on later location of Azilum, 15 

Servants' account, 7 5 

Shenang families, 11 

Slaves, 19 

Skinner, Ebenezer, original proprietor with reproduced document, 14 

Spalding, John, deed to Boulogne, 15 

Standing Stone, location, description and reproduction, 14 

Supplies, various sources of, 77 

Susquehanna Co., 13 

Stevens, Judge, account of Azylum, 3 3 • 



Talon, Omer, prominent in France, founder of Asylum, 7; takes oath of 
allegiance, 9; portrait, 8; arrives at Asylum, 24; head of colony, 
28; revisits Europe, 36; quits Asylum and returns to Europe, 38; 
further biography, 94, 9 5 

Talleyrand, Prince, visits America and Asylum, 80-82 

Tawandee, Record of settlements on, 75 

Tax lists of 1798-1800, 152 

Ternant, French soldier and ambassador to America, 80 

Terror, 3, 5 

Turquan. French historian, observations on Azilum, 9, 52, 116 

Twining, English traveler, 89 

Turnpike, 20 

V 

Versailles, 3; Action of Cabinet of, 5 

W 

Wansey, writes of Asylum, 89 
Weld, writes of Asylum, 87 
Willing, friend of exiles, 7 
Wilson, visits Asylum, 87 

Y 

Yorktown, many French settlers were active at surrender of, 10, 59 



H- 100 89 



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